Initiative 1433 Campaign
BossFeed Briefing for Working Washington leaders
To: Working Washington leaders
From: Sage Wilson, Communications Director
Re: Initiative 1433 campaign
Date: 11/7/2016
Election results should start getting posted to the state’s website at about 8:15 tomorrow… but before you jump to any conclusions about early results, make sure to take note of whether King County has posted yet. King is expected to be a strong base of support for I-1433 and pro-worker candidates, and it’s big — about 1 million votes will be cast by King County voters.
3 things to know
✅ We’re on their agenda:
The New York Times has reported that anti-worker groups like the National Restaurant Association and the Koch brothers hosted private getaways with state elections officials — including Washington’s Secretary of State — to discuss minimum wage ballot measures and other issues. Initiative 1433 to raise up Washington was literally on the agenda.
😒 People aren’t emoji:
Ever hear someone say customer service is easy and so retail & fast food workers don’t deserve $13.50/hour? You might want to send them this story: Trader Joe’s fired somebody because their smile wasn’t “genuine” enough.
🏘 The suburbs are changing:
Challenging conventional images of the Seattle suburbs, new Census data shows the population of Bellevue is now less than 50% white. The same is true for Kent, Renton, and Federal Way, as well as Yakima. Our political representatives haven’t quite caught up, however.
2 things to look out for
🚜 How Eastern Washington votes on I-1433:
We have many supporters in Eastern Washington — including many who could be reading this very email. And recent polling suggests that voters in Eastern Washington are split about equally on Initiative 1433. But news coverage makes the east side of the state seem like anti-worker hellscape, including a recent KING-5 report which focused on the leader of an anti-worker lobby group while including zero supporters of the minimum wage. We should know which perspective is right after tomorrow's election.
📊 Return on investment in the State Legislature:
The same groups opposing the minimum wage and the political funds they back have invested millions of dollars in fifteen key state legislative races. Follow the money and keep an eye on these candidates to see if these investments paid off.
1 thing worth a closer look
👵 A penny saved:
A quarter of Washington workers report they have less than $5,000 saved for retirement, and 9% said they expected lottery winnings to make up some of the difference. It’s easy enough to lay blame and make fun, but with so many companies paying poverty wages and offering few benefits, it’s no wonder it’s hard to put money aside. (Getting to the end of the month is rough enough.) And no, the lottery isn’t actually anyone’s plan — it’s gallows humor.
Read this far?
🎩 Consider yourself briefed, boss.