In The News
Civic Skunkworks, 8/26/2015:
Which brings me to my third objection to the editors’ one-sided mischaracterization. In calling out “cheerleading from labor,” I presume they’re referring to labor-funded Working Washington. Minimum wage advocacy is part of Working Washington’s mission, and they’re doing a damn fine job of it.
The Stranger, 8/20/2015:
According to Working Washington, because of the ongoing court battle, about 4,700 people working for airline contractors, cargo handlers, rental car companies, and other businesses in the airport were not being paid the higher minimum wage or given paid sick leave, which is also included in the law. By Working Washington's calculations, that totals about $15 million in lost wages and benefits.
The group highlights what that can mean for low-wage workers…
Seattlish, 8/12/2015:
The good folks at Working Washington have been trying to plug the gap with their What’s My Wage page and frequent tweets/solicitations for workers to learn their rights and report employers, but really, this is something the City probably should have been prepped with like, a while ago.
Publicola, 8/7/2015:
As noted by Working Washington, the RHA sued to strike down a 1980′s version of the city’s rental inspection program that we have now, opposes state legislation to make tenant screening reports affordable for prospective renters, and opposed even our city’s new minimum wage.
Civic Skunkworks, 8/7/2015
The point is that Friedman, who has been against the $15 minimum wage from the very beginning, accidentally made a perfect case for the $15 minimum wage, in reverse. A franchisee couldn’t pay their employees a living wage, and so that business is being replaced by a smaller business that can. As Friedman wrote: “THIS is our future. THIS is a great example of what we will see more and more and more.” Frankly, we can’t wait to see more of it, because we’re big supporters of small businesses that pay their employees a living wage, and proudly offer health insurance too. Working Washington put the best capper on the story:
Even better twist: Zeek’s Pizza is currently *hiring* at 7 different Seattle locations. http://t.co/W6k3x6R9Iv https://t.co/OU67cyf1E5
— Working Washington (@workingwa) August 5, 2015Seattle Times, 8/6/2015:
Meanwhile, Working Washington reports with relish that Coastal Kitchen and Mioposto owner Jeremy Hardy is opening another restaurant in Seattle — this Saturday, in fact — after saying many things quite to the contrary (and even invoking Chicken Little). Then there’s the Dunkin’ Donuts CEO who’s arguing against $15… who makes about $49K/hour. And the Seattle pizza place that closed blaming $15 minimum wage will be replaced by… a pizza place. And scene. (For now.)
Civic Skunkworks, 8/4/2015:
Welcome to West Seattle, Mioposto! The local Italian restaurant chain is opening its third location in the Admiral District next Saturday—another sign of the Seattle restaurant scene’s increasing strength. Isn’t it hard to believe that just last year, local restaurant owners were complaining that moving toward a $15 minimum wage would kill the restaurant scene dead? Now that we’ve seen our first wage increase and restaurants keep opening, those prophecies of doom seem pretty silly. I bet those owners are feeling kinda dumb right around now.
Hey, wait a minute! Turns out, one of Mioposto’s owners was complaining about the minimum wage increase. Go figure! As Working Washington pointed out, Jeremy Hardy—who also owns Coastal Kitchen—told Eater Seattle last year that he’s “certainly not opening another business in our beloved Seattle” due to the minimum wage increase, and that he “falls somewhere between feeling sad and feeling betrayed that this grenade has been dropped on us.”
Publicola, Op-Ed, 8/3/2015:
As representatives from advocacy organizations working toward a socially and environmentally just Seattle, we urge support of the HALA recommendations—especially the “Grand Bargain” that couples provisions for new affordable housing units with strategic upzones in the city. We need more inclusive housing choices and antidisplacement protections to ensure an equitable and sustainable city for current residents and future generations. The HALA Report lays a path to get us there.
Signed by:
Lauren Craig, Policy Counsel, Puget Sound Sage
Sejal Parikh, Executive Director, Working Washington
Jesse Piedfort, Chair of the Sierra Club-Seattle Group
Shefali Ranganathan, Deputy Director, Transportation Choices Coalition
Kelly Rider, Policy Director, Housing Development Consortium Seattle-King County
KING 5, 8/3/2015:
Working Washington…create[d] the website http://www.runforthemoney.org listing the independent expenditures supporting each candidate. The site includes headlines like "Big Dollars for Banks," "Big Business and Landlord Lobby for Braddock and Johnson," as well as "Real Estate Lobby for Lethin."
The candidates listed above have received Independent contributions from business friendly PACS, including the Chamber sponsored Civic Alliance for a Sound Economy.
KIRO Radio, 7/31/2015:
It's a perfect example of the scare tactics people against the wage increase use and how the closing of one business can create a "media storm," Working Washington spokesperson Sage Wilson said. Working Washington is one of the leading forces behind increasing minimum wages in cities in Washington.
The Seattle Times, 7/30/2015:
“This is big-business money,” Wilson said. “Voters should know where it’s coming from.”
“Seattle has seen a lot of movement on issues like working conditions and wages and affordable housing,” he said. “There seems to be a growing consensus here to address income inequality, and some of these groups don’t tend to share that opinion.”
Seattle P-I, 7/29/2015:
Working Washington, is busily making Banks’ donors look like 19th century robber barons. It is filing them under such categories as “Tens of thousands of dollars in support from business sources.”
Jesse Griggs, a fast food worker and leader with Working Washington, wrote an op-ed published 7/19/2015 in the Tacoma News-Tribune:
Last year, McDonald’s made more than $5 billion in profit. Me, I make about $,00 a month after taxes. My rent is $750. Everything else goes to bills. There’s not anything left for clothes. I can barely get food. And I definitely can’t go out. I can’t remember the last time I saw a movie.
Getting paid $15 might not sound like much, but it would mean I could eat. I’d actually be able to start saving. I could go to school. Maybe even get a car.
MYNorthwest, 6/6/2015
Businesses are being called out for spreading fear over Seattle's minimum wage law.
Despite the "dire predictions" by some business owners that the city would collapse, Working Washington says everything is still fine.
"The sky remains aloft," a post by the organization reads. The idea that Seattle would become an "economic wasteland" due to the minimum wage law is likened to Chicken Little's prediction that the sky is falling.
Olympia Power & Light, 6/6/2015
Successful campaigns in Seattle and SeaTac for a $15 minimum wage have spurred activity in Olympia, including organizing by supporters, preparation by opponents, and a conversation by the city council.
[...]
The local committee, supported by Working Washington, an advocacy group based in Seattle, has done several actions since December 2014, including strikes, a march through Capital Mall, and lobbying of state legislators. They have also canvassed Olympia neighborhoods, talking with residents door-to-door, sharing stories, and offering window signs that show support for the $15 minimum wage.
The Olympian, 5/13/2015
Sometimes a meeting, attended by more than 200 people, just doesn’t go as planned.
That was the case Wednesday for the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce’s 110th annual meeting when shortly after it started it was interrupted by a group of protesters, representing Working Washington.
That’s the same group that has staged recent gatherings in downtown Olympia in support of a $15-per-hour minimum wage.
About a half-dozen chanted during the brief protest, saying things such as “Dignity, respect, put $15 in my check,” and “When we fight, we win.”
The Olympian, 5/13/2015:
Sometimes a meeting, attended by more than 200 people, just doesn’t go as planned.
That was the case Wednesday for the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce’s 110th annual meeting when shortly after it started it was interrupted by a group of protestors, representing Working Washington.
That’s the same group that has staged recent gatherings in downtown Olympia in support of a $15-per-hour minimum wage.
Working Washington | 719 3rd Ave, Seattle, WA, 98104, United States