Working Washington issues the following statement in advance of the Tuesday, September 1st oral arguments in the franchise industry lawsuit arguing Seattle $15 minimum wage law is unfair to McDonald’s:
From the lobby group for the hotel industry to the lobby group for chain restaurants, the list of organizations weighing in to support the franchise industry’s lawsuit against Seattle’s $15 law reads like a list of sponsors of an ALEC convention. And that’s probably no coincidence, because the right-wing lobby shop held an entire meeting earlier this year attended by some of these very groups to strategize around legal, public relations, and other efforts to try and derail local minimum wage laws.
So it’s entirely appropriate that the US Chamber of Commerce has recently joined the wrong side of the lawsuit as well. The Chamber is a nearly $200-million-a-year right-wing political machine, regularly spending massive amounts on elections and to lobby against issues like paid sick leave, minimum wage, and other workers rights.
Big business refused to show up during the minimum wage debate in Seattle, relying instead on others to make their losing argument on their behalf. But now the lobby groups representing all of the big poverty-wage industries are falling all over themselves to sign up in support of the court case to overturn Seattle’s minimum wage law.
They know they can’t win the argument in public. So they’re desperate to try and block wage increases at the courts before the entire country learns from Seattle that we can raise wages, lift up our communities, and boost the economy for everyone.
Big business lobby groups filing amicus briefs in support of the franchise industry's attempt to block Seattle’s minimum wage law include:
- US Chamber Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s primary lobby group for big business interests
- American Hotel & Lodging Association, the national lobby group for chain hotels
- National Restaurant Association, the national lobby group for chain restaurants
- Washington Retail Association, the statewide lobby group for the retail industry
- Home Care Association of America, the national lobby group for poverty-wage home care agencies
Tuesday, September 1st
9:30 am
7th Floor Courtroom 2
William K. Nakamura Courthouse, Seattle
1010 5th Ave, Seattle, WA
Oral arguments on the franchise industry’s appeal of Judge Jones’s decision denying their motion for injunction against Seattle’s minimum wage law, before Judges Hawkins, Gould, and Ikuta
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Contact: Sage Wilson, Working Washington: sage@workingwa.org