Latest news with #UFCW367
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Labor rights groups seek to put $20-per-hour minimum wage on Olympia's fall ballot
Two labor rights groups rallied outside Olympia City Hall last week before handing in nearly 10,000 signatures toward qualifying the Workers' Bill of Rights, including raising the minimum wage to $20 per hour, for the election ballot in November. According to a June 23 news release from United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 367, the labor group partnered with Washington Community Action Network and the Olympia and Tacoma chapters of Democratic Socialists of America to gather signatures from registered voters in support of putting the issue to a vote. UFCW 367 president Michael Hines said the labor group is proud to stand with the community and push for policies that benefit as many workers as they can. 'Working families are long overdue for a raise and the security of predictable schedules and safe workplaces,' he said. The Workers' Bill of Rights would raise Olympia's minimum wage to $20 per hour for large employers. It would also gradually increase wages for medium and small businesses, with adjustments tied to inflation. The plan also calls for protecting workers' right to fair scheduling, requiring advance notice of shifts and first offering additional hours to current staff, rather than hiring more. The Workers' Bill of Rights also would help improve workplace safety, especially in high-risk settings, through required safety plans and protections such as panic buttons for isolated workers. Lastly, it would hold employers accountable through enforceable penalties ranging from $500 to $5,000 per violation, including for retaliation. Christine Fergus, who has been a grocery worker for nine years, said in the UFCW release that she collected nearly 1,000 signatures in Olympia mostly to improve staffing and scheduling. 'My mom's been battling cancer, she doesn't drive, and I'm trying to schedule her medical appointments sometimes months in advance,' Fergus said. 'It's really frustrating when I only get my schedule four days before my week starts and it's hard to reschedule this appointment, because my shifts can change every week.' The city last discussed the possibility of adopting a Workers' Bill of Rights in May, when the council landed on the research they wanted done by Assistant City Manager Stacey Ray and staff to inform their decision. City Manager Jay Burney said that the first batch of signatures was received by the City Clerk. He said their understanding is that the labor groups will be making further submissions this month. He said those signatures will need to be validated by Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall's staff. 'Once we receive notice that the proper number of valid signatures has been reached, the Council will need to act within 20 days to vote on whether to enact the ordinance as submitted or place it on the ballot,' Burney said. Hall said to qualify, the initiative requires signatures from 15% of the total number of registered voters in the city at the last preceding general election. For Olympia, that's just 5,788 signatures out of 38,591 registered voters.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Efforts to pass worker's bill of rights, $20 minimum wage in Tacoma advance
Organizers with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union 367 chapter and the Tacoma Democratic Socialists of America on Tuesday submitted signatures for a ballot initiative that could establish a 'Worker's Bill of Rights.' The two groups started the process of getting the initiative on the ballot in February, when they submitted a proposal to increase protections for workers in Tacoma with new policies like a $20 minimum wage. In submitting the roughly 10,000 signatures at city hall on June 24, UFCW 367 and the Tacoma DSA are one step closer in the city's initiative process. After submitting the draft of their initiative in February, the organizers had about six months to collect valid signatures from at least 10 percent of people who voted in the last mayoral election. They told The News Tribune in March that they planned to have at least 8,000 by early July. It's now up to the county auditor to verify the signatures, and the city clerk to validate the petition. As long as that happens, it would be up to the city council to enact or reject the initiative, according to the city. If the council enacts the petition, their approval would be the final say, eliminating the need to put the initiative to the voters. If council rejects the initiative, then it would be on the ballot. According to the city, if the council rejects the initiative or fails to take action within 30 days, the initiative would end up on the ballot for the next municipal or general election that's at least 90 days from when the signatures are validated — which organizers estimate could take 30 days. That means there's a possibility it could end up on the November ballot, or it could be part of a special election that happens sooner. If a majority of voters approve the initiative, it'll go into effect 10 days after the election results are certified. 'It's been much easier than we thought to get people to sign on to this,' union president Michael Hines told The News Tribune. The organizers put forward two versions of the initiative in February, which are largely similar but Version 2 has stronger penalties for violations of the bill of rights and stronger language outlining worker protections for fair scheduling and hours. Colton Rose, an organizer with the union, told The News Tribune that after hearing from residents through the process of getting signatures, the union decided to pursue Version 1 — the one with more lenient penalties. The Worker's Bill of Rights would require every employer in Tacoma with more than 500 employees to pay their staff at least $20 an hour, and any employer with between 16 and 500 employees must pay their staff at least $18 an hour. That rate drops to $17 an hour for employers with 15 or fewer employees. Minimum wage in the state of Washington is currently $16.66 per hour, which also currently applies to Tacoma. Cities like Seattle and Bellingham have different rates, at $20.76 per hour and $18.66 per hour, respectively. It also, among other things, would require employers to create a safety plan to protect workers and consumers in case of violence or a natural disaster, and would require them to give employees an estimate of their work schedules at least 14 days in advance. As city and county officials work to validate the signatures, a process that could take 30 days, Rose said organizers are still in the process of collecting more signatures in case they fall short of the number of signatures required. Hines said organizers are optimistic that the initiative will receive the support it needs from voters. 'I remember the days when you could be a single mom and a checker and pay your rent or buy a house, and that's pretty hard to do now based on what these companies are doing with the schedules,' Hines said. 'I think there's a lot of empathy from the community.'
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Worker's Bill of Rights, $20 minimum wage in Tacoma? Union begins gathering signatures
The United Food and Commercial Workers Union 367 chapter, with support of the Tacoma Democratic Socialists of America, is working to put a $20 minimum wage on the city ballot in November. According to two initiatives filed with the city of Tacoma last month, activists want to establish a Worker's Bill of Rights, which would raise the minimum wage in Tacoma, give workers more rights to fair scheduling and full-time hours, and improve workplace safety. Medium and small businesses would be phased into the $20 an hour minimum wage requirement over several years. Andrea Reay, who spoke on behalf of the Tacoma Pierce County Chamber of Commerce as its president and CEO, told The News Tribune on Monday raising the minimum wage in Tacoma would negatively impact small businesses and increase costs for consumers. She also voiced support for businesses to offer flexible hours and advocated for more creative solutions to address issues like affordable housing, economic inequality and workforce education. To get on the ballot, Worker's Bill of Rights advocates need to gather signatures from at least 10% of people who cast votes in the last election cycle. UFCW 367 community and labor organizer Colton Rose told The News Tribune on Friday they would have to gather about 5,000 signatures in favor of the initiative. Their goal is gathering at least 8,000 signatures by early July, he said. Rose said UFCW 367 is also pushing for a similar Worker's Bill of Rights in Olympia and would need to gather at least 15,000 signatures there by early July to put it on the ballot. The initiatives come on the heels of a citizen's petition to establish a Tenant Bill of Rights, which successfully passed in Tacoma in 2023 on a razor-thin margin. As of Jan. 1, 2020, employers in Tacoma are required to use the Washington state minimum wage. As of the first of this year the state's minimum wage was $16.66 an hour, 38 cents higher than 2024. Workers who are 14 or 15 years old must be paid at least $14.16 an hour. If successfully put on the ballot and approved by voters, the Tacoma initiatives would be enforced by private right of action, although there is language that would allow the city to vote on and develop its own enforcement mechanism. Two versions of a Worker's Bill of Rights have been submitted to the city of Tacoma. They are similar, but Version 2 has stronger penalties for violations and stronger language protecting workers' rights to fair scheduling and hours. Rose said UFCW 367 is testing public and business sentiment to determine which version it would push to get on the ballot. UFCW 367 wants the city of Tacoma to establish a higher minimum wage than the rest of the state. Upon the effective date, every employer in the city that employs more than 500 employees in its network would have to pay each employee at least $20 an hour, according to the initiatives. 'On January 1 of the next calendar year, and each January 1 thereafter, the hourly minimum wage must increase by the annual rate of inflation to maintain employee purchasing power,' the initiative says. Starting on its effective date, all employers in Tacoma that employ between 16 and 500 employees must pay their employees an hourly minimum wage of at least $18 an hour, and, 'The two-dollar reduction must decrease annually by one dollar on January 1 of each year thereafter until the reduction is zero,' according to the initiative. Employers that have 15 or fewer employees must pay their employees at least $17 an hour beginning on the effective date, and, 'The three-dollar reduction must decrease annually by 50 cents on January 1 of each year thereafter until the reduction is zero,' the initiatives say. Under the Worker's Bill of Rights, certain employers would need to give employees 'a good faith estimate' of their work schedules, give at least 14 calendar days notice of their work schedules, offer additional hours of work to existing employees before hiring additional employees or subcontractors, provide employees with written notice of their rights and provide a written response for why they denied a worker's request to a change in their schedule due to a major life event. Employers also would need to create a workplace safety plan to protect workers and consumers in the event of violence or natural disaster, according to the initiatives. Large employers would be required to protect workers in isolated or dangerous areas by providing panic buttons and maintaining safe staffing levels. Failure to provide a good faith estimate of work schedules could result in $500 penalties to the employer per failure, as could a failure to offer additional hours of work to existing employees, according to one initiative. A failure to provide employees with written notice of their rights could result in a $500 penalty and retaliation could result in $1,000 to $5,000 penalties to the employer. UFCW 367 president Michael Hines told The News Tribune on Thursday the union was one of the first to endorse the Tenant Bill of Rights in Tacoma and came up with the idea for the Worker's Bill of Rights after running into challenges with reduced hours and safety issues in area grocery stores. 'That was sort of the background of why we started thinking about, well, if they're not going to talk to us at the table, then we'll legislate it,' Hines said. 'We see ourselves as not just a labor union but part of the greater community, so we have a responsibility to raise the standards for all working class, not just those that belong to our union.' Hines said many of the union's 8,000 members are struggling to make ends meet, and some are living in their cars because they cannot keep up with the rising costs of rent and cost of living in Western Washington. 'Some people think that by raising the minimum wage, then the cost of everything is going to go up, but the truth of the matter is, we're chasing the cost of living. We're not ahead of it. We haven't been ahead of it in a long time,' he said. 'There's also those, like me, who have been around a long time. I remember working for $3.35 an hour as minimum wage. And so some people are like, 'Well, I had to work my way up. Why should some 19-year-old kid make 20 bucks an hour when it took me all these years to make that?' And the truth is, we're in different times.' Rose said the union doesn't want to burden small businesses, which is why it would phase in minimum wage increases. 'Cities around Washington, around the Puget Sound, for years now, have been raising the minimum wage, and we can see the direct impact. And that is when low-wage workers have more money to spend, they spend that money in their community,' he said. 'Workers who get the increased wages will directly benefit from being able to afford their rent and buy groceries and all the things that we need to do to live on a daily basis, and the community as a whole will thrive because of the increased support for local and small businesses.' Rikki Wood, the communications chair of Tacoma DSA, said their organization 'fully supports' the Worker's Bill of Rights and said wages should increase with the profit margins of their businesses. 'Corporate America's profits continue to skyrocket, while increases in pay have flatlined,' she said. 'In partnerships with unions pursuing collective bargaining, we believe in fighting for a living wage for the people in Tacoma.' In 2024 corporate profits in the United States saw a 16.9% growth in the last year, while wages and salaries in the same period increased 3.7%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Although Reay agreed that when lower-wage workers have more money to spend it strengthens the local economy, she said, 'the tough piece is that dollar will not go as far as we hope or we think it will because of the increased burden of the increased cost' businesses will push on consumers in order to recoup their labor costs. Of the more than 1,500 members belonging to the nonprofit Tacoma Pierce County Chamber, more than 85% are small business owners with 20 or fewer employees, Reay said. The initiatives are being proposed at a time when inflation is high and the United States is facing economic insecurity that is putting immense pressure on small businesses, she said. The U.S. Small Business Administration defines a small business as having fewer than 500 employees. If the Worker's Bill of Rights passes, Reay said, small businesses would be more affected than larger businesses 'because they have less financial flexibility to absorb what those higher labor costs can and could be … simply because of the economy of scale.' Depending on the industry, some business sectors have lower profit margins than others, like full-service restaurants, Reay said. Small businesses with thin margins are more likely to suffer from minimum-wage increases because 'the cost of everything is going up,' and 'there is a price cap [for what] the general public will tolerate for spending,' she said. Reay cited a 2021 University of Washington study that examined whether Seattle's phasing in of a $13 minimum wage from 2014 to 2017 lowered income inequality in the city. The study found that the lowest-wage workers in Seattle saw increases in hourly wages, but there was no evidence to suggest the higher minimum wage lowered overall levels of earning inequality for all workers in the city. Income inequality 'substantially increased' in that time period, 'likely for reasons unrelated to the minimum wage law,' and businesses reduced worker hours as a result of increased labor costs, wrote author Mark Long. 'The minimum wage was never meant to be a family wage or a living wage job. It's meant to be a training wage,' Reay said. 'When we're looking at how do we create more opportunities for equitable economic development, how do we create opportunities for workers to have more access to higher wage employment and skilled labor — those are more complex conversations. We are not going to create more economic opportunity and decrease the number of people living in poverty, or below the poverty line, simply by just increasing the minimum wage.' Reay said the chamber is advocating to look at 'what we're doing for workers holistically' through training and skills programs, investment in child care programs, investing in industries like manufacturing that have a higher earning potential with lower barriers to entry, in addition to building more types of housing and affordable housing. 'It's not as simple as just raising the minimum wage,' she said. 'It's more complex, and it requires more new policy and smart policy solutions. And I would say it's a comprehensive approach.' When asked about the chamber's stance on the scheduling and hiring conditions outlined in the Worker's Bill of Rights initiatives, Reay said flexible scheduling for hourly employees can be good for both workers and employers. Reay said she understands workers' desire for a predictable work schedule but said anecdotally that most employers people want to work with 'ensure that they have a schedule that works for them and for their needs, for their families.' When asked her opinion on the safety protections for workers outlined in the initiatives, Reay said, 'If the problem that we're trying to solve is that there is data on businesses that are taking advantage of workers or not creating safe environments, etc., then, let's solve that problem.' 'Businesses absolutely want to be part of the solution finding, and we want to find a solution that works for business and for workers,' she said. 'We don't want to have unintended consequences.'
