Fight for $15
Working Washington fast food strikers sparked the fight that won Seattle’s first-in-the-nation $15 minimum wage.
Raising standards and changing the conversation about wealth, inequality, and the value of work
Seattle workers made history
Seattle workers made history in June 2014, when City Council unanimously passed Mayor Murray’s plan for a $15 minimum wage, and the mayor signed the ordinance into law the next day.
It came just a year after fast food workers with Working Washington first launched strikelines across Seattle, calling for $15 an hour and the right to organize.
Initially, the demand for $15 was seen as entirely unrealistic by essentially everyone. From workers going on strike to journalists covering the movement to progressive elected officials commenting on it, almost everyone felt that the number was not to be taken seriously.
But workers’ bold actionS sparked a movement, and the speed and scale of the shift were extraordinary. Less than six months after the first Seattle fast food strike, the $15 minimum wage was a regular topic of conversation in City Hall and, importantly, in workplaces across the region. And a year after the first strikes, Seattle passed the first citywide $15/hour minimum wage.
Now, over a decade later…
Our region has one of the strongest economies in the nation, and we continue to lead the way nationally on economic policy that reduces inequality and makes it more possible for people to live, rest, and work here.
We have much more to do, but time and time again, workers in our region have taken on difficult campaigns, and walked out with seemingly impossible victories.
Workers have proven that change in this country is possible for working people, as long as we come together and use our collective power.
Learn about our active fights for working people
