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At Central Co-op $15/hour celebration, a Seattle call for bump in national minimum wage

Capitol Hill’s Central Co-op hosted Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and a collection of officials and labor representatives Friday to mark the $15 minimum wage milestone in the city.

“I feel like this is the starting whistle for a labor movement that has become progressive, that’s fought for works, and that’s fought for the community on issue after issue,” Nicole Grant of the King County Labor Council said during her time at the mic during the small media conference inside the E Madison cooperative.

CHS reported earlier on the first wave of Seattle workers to reach the $15 minimum wage mark at large companies with more than 500 employees.

“We are very proud to play a role in the movement for providing a better, more livable wage,” Central Co-op representative Susanna Schultz said in a statement on the occasion.

“Two years after implementing the $15 per hour entry-level wage at Central Co-op, our community is stronger than ever. Higher wages are better for our employees, help with retention and recruiting, and have a positive impact on our customers and community. Introducing the higher entry-level wage and offering exceptional benefits is a testament to our cooperative identity and our commitment to upholding the values we share with our partners like United Food and Commercial Workers.”

The minimum wage process in Seattle has also accelerated changes in how business owners are managing changes in tipping and service charges.

The mayor put Seattle’s effort into a nationwide context.

“What began by a strike on the part of fast food workers and started as a movement in Sea-Tac and grew to Seattle that then led the rest of the nation, has grown into a national movement.”

Murray said he hopes the federal government does its part and raises the national minimum wage.

In a statement, newly sworn-in District 7 Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal also called for action on the federal level.

“The federal government must follow Seattle’s example,” Jayapal said. “We should listen to the hard-working men and women in the ‘Fight for 15’ movement and raise the nationwide minimum wage to $15 per hour.”

The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. For many tipped employees, the minimum wage is $2.13 per hour, according to the Jayapal statement.

“I’m incredibly proud that Seattle is continuing to lead the way in the fight against income inequality,” Rep. Jayapal said. “No one should work full time and live in poverty.”

In questions with media after the addresses, Mayor Murray said recent criticism from owners like Tom Douglas of the city’s wage changes and overall business environment isn’t anything new and questioned the prolific restaurateur’s support for higher wages. “He was against it before he was for it. So there’s been some history,” Murray said.

“There are other restaurant owners who believe it has been a good experience for them, a good experience for their employees and support it,” Murray said.

“You only have to look around to see the number of restaurants that are opening.”

“This is not a city where restaurants are closing down,” he added.

 

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Paul
Paul
7 years ago

Celebrated by the seven remaining staff members who didn’t get cut…….

Old Gil
Old Gil
7 years ago
Reply to  Paul

That would explain why the remaining employees are actually pleasant and helpful.

Bro
Bro
7 years ago

I make triple this an hour and am on the bottom half of the median Seattle income (80k a year, last I saw) and have left the city in order to afford rent. Quite a workers utopia, for sure.

oops
oops
7 years ago
Reply to  Bro

45*20,80: 93,600

93,600>80,000

Paul
Paul
7 years ago
Reply to  Bro

You make the relevant point. The effective effort is not 15 an hour, which will still not mean you can afford to live here, but doing something about the skyrocketing cost of housing for multiple levels of the working class who are not overpaid tech bros. I know college educated professionals making much more than 15 an hour who are being priced out as they are pushed to pay over 50% of their income on rent.

Tom
Tom
7 years ago
Reply to  Bro

If you make $45/hour and can’t afford rent, you are being picky and you would rather spend money on something else.

Sean
Sean
7 years ago

Meanwhile, up the street at Trader Joe’s, they have an unofficial “Either/Or” policy when it comes to honoring the city’s minimum wage law.

If the minimum wage hike is more than the employees’ performance based review raise, they get that.

If the employees’ performance based raise is more than the minimum wage raise, they get that.

They don’t get both.

This makes the lowest paid employees subsidize Trader Joe’s legal obligation to the minimum wage while also nullifying their performance over the previous six months.

Kilgore trout
Kilgore trout
7 years ago

Come on now….. central coop didn’t grant a $15/hr min. This was a UFCW negotiation. Management should be honest about their part in wanting a lower wage, and not pretend this was granted out of benevolence. As for higher employee retention? Have looked a your own job listings? Your disorganization can’t even maintain a CEO/GM. Your previous GM was too incompetent to secure a new location for the tacoma store and cost people’s jobs. Also too incompetent to secure a new location for the seattle store, you recently signed a 20yr lease for a property that your store had outgrown years ago. Your HR department can’t attract and hire competent people for management positions and refuses to hold management accountable to at the very least show up sober for their shifts, let alone perform their jobs.

How about those ceiling panels in the deli kitchen that weren’t supposed to be moved or cleaned because who knows what was up there after a rodent infestation…. according to your maintenence person? How about the deli manager refusing to take action against an employee who would repeatedly blow his nose in paper towel, drop it on the floor and then using it to clean his cutting board?

There’s far more to employee retention and happiness than wage. Run your organization and stop telling people about how you run it.