Hands Off 15! Workers Strike Back Speaks Out Against Seattle Democrats’ Attack on Our Historic Minimum Wage

By Jason Thiel

Seattle Democrats are attempting to fundamentally undermine Seattle’s historic minimum wage by creating a permanent sub-minimum wage tier for tipped workers.

But working people are fighting back. On the afternoon of Tuesday Sept. 3rd, 30 or so workers, union members, and Workers Strike Back members spoke out against the attack at the first City Council meeting since Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth’s initial proposal to undermine the minimum wage was temporarily retracted under pressure from our movement. At that time, Councilmember Hollingsworth made it clear that she would be back with a new attack on workers, or in her words, “a balanced solution”. Speakers made it clear that there was no such thing as a “balanced solution” in attempting to deny Seattle workers the $3 raise that is due to them. Any attempt to continue the sub-minimum wage for hundreds of thousands of the city’s lowest paid workers is nothing less than an anti-worker, anti-union attack.

In 2014, when socialist Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant’s office was building the movement that won the original $15/hour minimum wage, Democrats on the City Council opposed our movement on the basis that $15/hour would allegedly hurt small businesses. Despite the fact that none of their dire warnings about Seattle becoming a ghost town came true they are now pulling out the same dusty faux-concerns for small business to justify the new attacks on low-wage workers. 

Workers Strike Back members, as well as several current and former small business owners, challenged these lies at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. If these Democrats, then or now, actually cared about small businesses, then they could easily increase the city’s existing Amazon Tax on the city’s wealthiest businesses. These big corporations are the ones driving up rents and squeezing out small businesses. They can afford to pay into a small business assistance fund. The Democrats could also pass commercial and residential rent control, and establish municipal banking and other progressive measures that would actually help small businesses. When Kshama Sawant introduced all these measures during her time in office, they were rejected by the Democratic Councilmembers.

Kshama Sawant addressed progressive Democrat Tammy Morales during the meeting, insisting that it was not enough for Morales to stand aside or simply vote against the law — that she needed to publicly fight against this historic attack on workers.

Em Smith, a member of Workers Strike Back, directly called out District 4 Councilmember Jorge Baron for having attended a picket line for striking hotel workers the day prior holding a sign saying “One job should be enough” while simultaneously refusing to publicly oppose attacks on Seattle’s minimum wage. As Smith stated, if Hollingsworth’s initial attack were to pass, hundreds of thousands of service workers like the very hotel workers Baron was posing for a photo op with would in fact need a second job to survive. Baron made no response to his obvious hypocrisy being challenged. 

Multiple rank and file union members of various unions spoke during the public comment period at the City Council meeting calling out Democrats for taking endorsements and donations from labor unions in their most recent elections and then turning around and supporting this anti-worker, anti-union legislation. Unfortunately, none of the leadership of these unions was in attendance at this Council meeting where workers were calling out these attacks.. This really shows the need for a rank-and-file uprising in the labor movement to fight back, not just against these and future attacks on workers, but to go on the offensive for things like higher wages, better hours, healthcare, etc. Workers Strike Back has a sample resolution rejecting attacks on Seattle’s minimum wage and pledging to withdraw support from any Councilmember that votes for such an attack. Any union member can introduce this resolution in their union local — reach out to Workers Strike Back if you’re interested in doing so.

If the City Council is able to get away with this attack on our historic minimum wage victory it will embolden them to go after other pro-worker measures, including renters rights victories like the ban on winter evictions. It will also send a message to other City Councils around the country that they can get away with something similar. That’s why it's so essential that workers in Seattle go all out to defeat this attack. On Sunday, September 15, Workers Strike Back is organizing an action conference to build our movement against this attack. Please register for the event on our website and join us!

Resolution:

WHEREAS: Ten years ago in 2014, Seattle became the first major city to win the historic $15/hour minimum wage. With inflation adjustment, Seattle’s minimum wage is now at nearly $20/hour, making it the nation’s highest major-city minimum wage. This unprecedented victory was made possible by a united coalition of the labor movement, working people, socialists, and the 15 NOW movement, led by socialist Councilmember Kshama Sawant;

AND WHEREAS: This sparked movements for a $15/hour minimum wage across the country, which led to gains at city and state levels in a breakthrough for low-paid workers, benefiting tens of millions of workers nationwide; 

AND WHEREAS: At the time, big business won a phase-in period of ten years for businesses with 500 or fewer employees, who have received a lower-tier minimum wage. This corporate loophole was opposed by the 15 NOW movement, which advocated for raising all workers’ wages at the same rate, and tax big businesses like Amazon to subsidize small businesses who needed support;

AND WHEREAS: Earlier this summer, Democratic Party City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth brought forward an anti-worker, anti-union bill, which would permanently enshrine the lower-tier minimum wage for well over 200,000 workers, denying them at least $3/hour of wages starting next year. If this bill, or a similar bill, is allowed to pass, it would be a continuation of the divisive corporate assault on working-class living standards. The creation of two-tier wage scales has been a scourge to the labor movement that workers at UPS, the Big Three automakers, and elsewhere have fought to end, including by waging historic strike action;

AND WHEREAS: Councilmember Hollingsworth was forced to temporarily withdraw her bill only because of public pressure from Workers Strike Back, Restaurant Workers United, rank-and-file labor union members, and former Councilmember Kshama Sawant;  

AND WHEREAS: If Seattle City Council truly wanted to protect small businesses, they would have passed commercial rent control in Washington, which was brought forward by Councilmember Sawant in 2023, but was voted down by the City Council Democrats;

AND WHEREAS: Working-class solidarity is a founding principle of the labor movement, as our banners proudly declare: An Injury To One Is An Injury To All;

AND WHEREAS: It is imperative that workers and the labor movement be fully aware that Councilmember Hollingsworth has only temporarily withdrawn the bill, and has said she will seek a “new approach” on the legislation. City Council Democrats will return with attacks on the minimum wage as well as other workers’ and renters’ rights; 

AND WHEREAS: Workers and the labor movement cannot allow big business and corporate landlords to carry out any attack on the minimum wage or on other crucial gains won by Seattle’s working people. If we let them attack Seattle’s $15 victory, they will be emboldened to attack the $15 minimum wage victories won by the labor movement in other cities across the nation. Furthermore, the current City Councilmembers in Seattle have also vowed to go after renters’ rights laws won over the last decade, including the winter and school-year eviction moratoriums, which Seattle unions helped fight to win and which we must fight to defend;

AND WHEREAS: Councilmember Hollingsworth, the sponsor of the withdrawn bill, and most other City Councilmembers, were endorsed by the Martin Luther King, Jr. County Labor Council in the 2023 City Council election, and also received financial donations from labor unions, and the labor movement needs to hold elected officials accountable to working people.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: _____ will stand in solidarity with minimum-wage workers and oppose any future attacks on our minimum wage;

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: _______ will call on the City Council to stop their attacks on renters and working people, knowing that a loss of any of these protections would be devastating for _______ members, hundreds of thousands of other working people in Seattle, and for millions of workers across the country, and our union will make clear that any Councilmember who supports attacks on workers needs to face political consequences from the labor movement. 

AND BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:  ________ will join other working people in rallying and organizing against any future attacks on the minimum wage, will organize union members and representatives to attend City Hall public comment periods to speak out forcefully against such attacks, and will mobilize our members to such actions through email, social media, announcements at membership meetings, and other union communication.