With 9-0 vote to pass secure scheduling, Seattle City Council makes labor history
Coffee, food, and retail workers win new right to know when they’re going to work and how may hours they’re going to get
By a unanimous vote this afternoon, Seattle made labor history once again by passing secure scheduling — the first new labor standard to address weekly work schedules since overtime pay became law in the 1930s. This landmark victory in Seattle is only the beginning in the fight for balanced and flexible schedules in Washington State and across the country.
When Seattle workers with Working Washington won the nation’s first citywide $15/hour law in 2014, it set a new standard that everyone should receive a living wage for every hour they work. San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and California soon followed with $15 laws of their own. And in November, people across Washington state will vote on Initiative 1433, a ballot measure which will substantially raise the statewide minimum wage to $13.50/hour and provide paid sick time.
With today’s unanimous vote to pass secure scheduling, Seattle workers are once again breaking new ground by establishing a new principle: that everyone should know when they’re going to work and how many hours they’re going to get.
“Today is the just beginning for secure scheduling,” said Working Washington Executive Director Sejal Parikh. “Seattle workers made this happen, but the crisis of unpredictable and unstable work schedules doesn’t end at the city limits. In just the last few days we’ve seen the mayor of New York City announce plans to take on secure scheduling, and they’re surely only the first to follow. We look forward to seeing who’s next as a new wave sweeps across the nation in the footsteps of the fight for $15.”
The minimum wage hits $15/hour for the first group of Seattle workers on January 1, 2017. The secure scheduling ordinance takes effect six months later, on July 1, 2017.
For more details see our previous release or check out our secure scheduling press kit.
