For those of us lucky enough to get weekends off, it’s tempting to use Labor Day as a time to enjoy the last of summer and escape the relentlessly bad news: natural disasters made worse by human arrogance and unregulated…
For those of us lucky enough to get weekends off, it’s tempting to use Labor Day as a time to enjoy the last of summer and escape the relentlessly bad news: natural disasters made worse by human arrogance and unregulated…
Last week, the Social Security Trustees published their 269-page annual report on the health of the Social Security Trust Funds, which hold the assets that will help fund future retirement benefits for Social Security recipients. In sum, the future of…
This past month, researchers at the Evans School of Public Policy at the University to Washington released a study funded by the Arnold Foundation[1] of the minimum wage increases in the city of Seattle.[2] They asserted that the minimum wage…
Seattle’s economy is booming: construction everywhere, crowded streets and transit, housing costs soaring, bustling neighborhood restaurants, and a 2.6% unemployment rate. Much of this growth is driven by high wage-tech jobs and the spillover effect of all those workers eating…
Last November voters overwhelmingly approved Initiative 1433 to increase the minimum wage and establish a statewide standard for paid sick days. Initiative 1433 raised the minimum wage to $11 an hour on Jan. 1, 2017. That was an increase of…
Women and families in the U.S. are facing so many challenges these days, it’s hard to know how to focus our energy. Women who have worked hard, paid taxes, and raised families in this country for years, torn from their…
In November, Washington voters approved Initiative 1433 to raise the state minimum wage to $11 per hour ($13.50 by 2020) and allow all workers to earn some paid sick and safe leave. Republican legislators and business groups opposed I-1433. They…
Eighteen years ago the people of our state became public pioneers by passing into law the first minimum wage initiative that, like Social Security, included an automatic COLA – a cost-of-living adjustment. With this law, we made sure that the…
Two weeks ago the people of our state voted to raise the minimum wage to $11 an hour in 2017, and eventually $13.50 in 2020. It’s an important step forward — but just one step. And thanks to a judge…
Washington has joined the growing number of states to adopt paid sick and safe leave for all workers with approval of Initiative 1433. Starting in January 2018, everyone working in Washington will be assured at least 1 hour of paid…
