With Seattle charter amendment filed, 15 Now leader at Capitol Hill Community Council minimum wage panel this week

Reposted from Capitol Hill Seattle Blog

Monday morning started with a bang for the movement to push forward an un-mitigated $15 per hour minimum wage in Seattle as 15 Now organizers have filed language for a charter amendment with the City Clerk. Meanwhile, 15 Now’s head and others in the maw of the talks surrounding income inequality and raising the minimum wage in Seattle like the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce’s Michael Wells will be at the April meeting of the Capitol Hill Community Council Thursday night for a panel to discuss the issues.
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Now it’s really getting serious: The fight for a $15 minimum wage in Seattle could be headed to the ballot box this year, instead of just churning through city hall.

SEATTLE – Sarah White, a nurse practitioner and 15 Now activist filed language for a charter amendment with the City Clerk this morning. “Poverty pay is a public health issue and this amendment addresses that squarely. As a nurse, addressing income inequality by increasing the minimum wage is a no brainer for improving the health of our city,” said White.

Jess Spear, Vote 15 campaign manager said, “Over 100,000 workers in Seattle – one quarter of the workers in this city – stand to be lifted out of poverty by the passage of a $15 an hour minimum wage.” Continue reading →

Sarah White, a nurse practitioner and 15Now activist filed a charter amendment yesterday morning to protect the rights of Seattle voters to pass a real $15/hr minimum wage.  If the city council does not pass a strong ordinance that covers all workers without needless delay or loopholes, we can put it to the people of Seattle to vote to end poverty wages. Raising the minimum wage to $15/hour in Seattle would lift 100,000 workers and their families out of poverty.

Seattle joins San Francisco as the second city with a ballot measure to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour. We hosted a press conference to announce this historic step in the Fight for 15. Below are some media articles on the filing:

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Franklin High School
3013 S Mt Baker Blvd, Seattle, WA 98144 / Doors at 9:30am

Join us for 15 Now Conference on April 26 which will bring together hundreds of activists to launch the Vote 15 mass signature gathering campaign. Continue reading →

On April 14th Sarah White, a nurse practitioner and 15 Now supporter, filed a charter amendment for Seattle that calls for a $15 minimum wage for all workers, with no tip penalty or total compensation, and with a three-year phase in for small businesses and all nonprofits.  At the press conference were a number of representatives from community organizations (Casa Latina, El Comité, Transit Rider’s Union, Socialist Alternative) and King County Councilmember and longtime civil rights activist Larry Gossett.

The charter amendment provides a safety net for workers to use if the City Council does not pass an ordinance that covers all workers without needless delay or loopholes.

Our next steps will be decided at the First National 15 Now Conference on April 26th.  We will democratically discuss  a strategy to win $15/hour for all Seattle workers, that includes whether to go forward with signature collection for the charter amendment.

If you are interested in getting involved, please register for the April 26th Conference, and get involved with an action group near you!

Puget Sound Sage has just released their full report on equity and economic outcomes of a $15/hr minimum wage in Seattle. Please distribute far and wide! Here is a summary of the key findings:

A $15 minimum wage will have a wide and positive impact on our local economy.
– We estimate that 102,000 employees in Seattle make less than $15 an hour.
– Workers covered by a minimum wage could see an average increase of $3.05 an hour. This
represents a 26% actual increase above their average wage of $11.95.
– The additional earnings would result in a $526 million stimulus to low-wage worker households
in Seattle and the region.
– The $526 million dollar wage increase represents a marginal change of only 2% in the total
payroll of affected industries. Employers in certain industries, such as food and
accommodations, would see a higher rate of increase (6%).
– Low-income households are likely to spend more of their paychecks, increasing demand for
goods and service. Households with incomes between $30,000 and $39,999 spend all of their
pre-tax income. In contrast – households with incomes over $70,000 spend only 63% of their
pre-tax income.
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From The Stranger:

It’s Not a Tip Credit, It’s a Tip Penalty

As you may have heard, business interests in Seattle want to include a tip penalty in the city’s minimum-wage proposal, although they like to call it a “tip credit.” A tip penalty would mean that employers get to deduct any tips an employee receives from their hourly wage obligations. While this may sound fine in principle, in practice a tip penalty is an invitation for exploitation by unscrupulous employers and reintroduces the kind of wage uncertainty and inequality the minimum wage is meant to prevent.

In The Stranger:

Leaked E-Mail Shows Big Business Trying to Use Small Businesses to Weaken $15 Minimum Wage

Big Business is getting ready to roll out its Astroturf group, OneSeattle, hiding behind small businesses and people of color. But the reality is they are run by Starbucks, Alaska Airlines, big Grocery companies, etc. for one reason and one reason only: to protect their profits!

This shows how important it is that we build 15 Now, to build up a organized force which is fighting for workers to answer the organized efforts of big business. Donate and Join 15 Now!