On Friday, Nov. 14, the Seattle City Council Budget Committee passed two measures to boost pay for low-paid workers. The first measure increased the minimum wage to $15 an hour for all city of Seattle workers starting Jan. 1. It will affect 600 to 800 workers and cost $1.5 million over two years.
The second measure will help human service agencies pay their employees the same $15-an-hour minimum wage. It will cost $1.7 million over two years. Julia Sterkovsky, executive director of Seattle Human Services Coalition, said human-service agencies need more money to raise pay and still provide services.
The pay raises for low-wage workers came about as a result of higher minimum-wage legislation passed by the city council and signed by the mayor in June. Under that law, large employers, such as the city, would phase in the new minimum wage according to the following schedule: $11 by April 1, 2015; $13 by Jan. 1, 2016; and $15 by Jan. 1, 2017. The mayor’s proposed budget, released in September, followed that pay increase schedule for the city’s own workforce.
Councilmember Kshama Sawant rejected the mayor’s proposed schedule as too slow. Instead, she led the successful effort to have the city’s own workforce make at least $15 an hour at the start of 2015. “It’s the right thing to do,” she said. “What arguments can the city make to continue to pay poverty wages?”
When Ian Gordon, business manager of Laborers’ Local 1239, heard the news, he shouted, “Hallelujah! I am going to have a lot of happy members.” Gordon, who represents around 100 of the city’s lowest-wage workers, said the change will affect people who make less than $15 an hour, including some golf-course groundskeepers, parks-maintenance aides, dining room attendants at Seattle Center and cashiers. He credited Sawant’s work. “There wouldn’t be any of this legislation going through without her,” Gordon said.
Sawant was disappointed that the council did not provide more money to help human-service providers pay their workforces the minimum $15 an hour. “I’m really happy that we were able to allocate some money. The Seattle Human Services Coalition was asking for a much bigger amount.”
Sterkovsky shared her disappointment. “It is not going to address the broad impact. Folks who depend on these services are probably going to be facing cuts,” she said.
Many Seattle human-service agencies do not pay all their employees $15 an hour.
Since the agencies will be forced to raise wages on the new law’s schedule, they have to come up with more money or decrease services.
There is no solid estimate of how much it will cost human-service agencies to comply with the new law. Sterkovsky estimated it would be $3 million to $4 million over the next two years. She also wants the city to do a thorough study of the new law’s impact and find out what the actual cost will be. “The city needs to take more responsibility,” Sterkovsky said.
The council will take final action on the city’s budget on Nov. 24.