LOCAL
Hospitality hearing Tuesday, fast-food boycott on Thursday
SEATTLE (Feb. 18, 2013) — The unprecedented grassroots movement to raise this city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour is gaining more steam this week with events and actions designed to expose poverty-wage-paying businesses and the harm they are doing to Seattle communities.
“From the multi-year labor dispute at Seattle’s iconic Space Needle, to the new organizing at Seattle Hyatt hotels, hospitality workers are pushing back against the race to the bottom that has become the hallmark of so many service jobs,” according to UNITE HERE Local 8. “Workers from the Space Needle, Hyatt at Olive 8 and others will share their stories with a panel of community leaders, who will respond to their testimony and give recommendations on what is needed to create a sustainable Seattle for all people.”
The “Boycott McPoverty” effort is the next step in the campaign to win $15 for Seattle, which has the support of 68% of likely voters in the city, according to a recent poll.
“The three big burger chains make billions of dollars by serving billions of burgers to billions of customers — but they still pay their workers poverty wages,” according to Working Washington, which is helping organize Thursday’s boycott. “Higher wages would mean workers could afford to support themselves and pay for basics like food, rent, and transportation. Our economy would benefit, too — because more people making more money means more customers for every business out there.”
In addition to Working Washington, organizations endorsing the call to Boycott McPoverty include Fifteen Now, Good Jobs Seattle, M.L. King County Labor Council, OneAmerica, People’s Institute NW, SEIU 775NW, SEIU 1199NW, Teamsters 117, Tyree Scott Freedom School, and Washington CAN. For more information, visit workingwa.org.