Support Seattle’s proposed rules to protect hotel workers

The following is from UNITE HERE Local 8:

SEATTLE (April 13, 2018) — In November 2016, Seattle voters overwhelmingly approved Initiative 124, the Seattle Hotel Employees Health and Safety Initiative, which includes protections from sexual harassment, assault and workplace injury, and improves access to affordable family healthcare and job security for hotel workers.

On April 9, the City of Seattle released proposed administrative rules for the initiative for public comment. The rules reflect a months-long stakeholder process that included significant input from hotel workers and worker advocates.

UNITE HERE Local 8, the hotel and hospitality workers’ union, is supportive of the proposed rules and is urging the city to adopt them without substantive changes. But representatives of hotel employers have argued for rules that would undercut workers’ ability to access affordable family healthcare and create loopholes in the workload limits for hotel housekeepers.

TAKE A STAND! — UNITE HERE Local 8 is urging union members and community allies to support of hotel employees by urging the city’s Office of Labor Standards against watering down the proposed rules. Download this briefing paper for more details, and then click here to send your comments to the OLS. The comment period for the proposed administrative rules will close on Monday, April 23 at 5 p.m. You can also submit comments directly to Jenee Jahn, OLS Policy Analyst, by emailing jenee.jahn@seattle.gov or calling 206-256-5297.