News Jun 4, 2014 at 4:00 am

What Seattle's Most Successful Bare-Knuckle Activists Need to Fight for Next

The way they won a minimum-wage hike wasn’t Seattle nice. Anna Minard

Comments

1
Whenever there is a time of plenty, that very fact will increase the population until the Natural Order of starvation and misery is restored.
-Richard Dawkins
2
It should be fun watching how Olympia will respond to this. And we all know they will try to do something to kill it if the businesses in Seattle don't do something first.

Now can we talk about affordable housing in Seattle for those of us who make too much to qualify for aid programs but don't make nearly enough to pay $1500 a month in rent?
3
City will lose on the franchise issue.
4
Rents will go up.
5
Expect significant influx of people moving to Seattle to get a $15/hr job.
6
And btw, I FAVOR $15.
Just don't be surprised when things don't turn out exactly as you had hoped.
7
You thought that $15 was a "contentious fight"?
That was nothing.

There was widespread agreement in Seattle that poor people deserve a break and easy for people to rationalize by saying "Well I will just eat out less if it gets too expensive."

Smug and self-satisfied, pathetic, to think some huge battle was won.
8
While the city should certainly do its damn job in terms of outreach and enforcement, helping workers with this could be the kind of outreach that helps change the perception that unions are no longer necessary.
9
I look forward to the support of small business owners when we fight the Franchise Association to keep the exemption. If they're not up for that, we should go back to the first proposal: No less than $15 for an hour of work, regardless of the size of the employer.
10
Now how do we get something similar passed in King County? I think $14/hour would be good across the county, as the cost of living is about 10% higher in Seattle on average than the County on average.
11
@9
I wouldn't go to the ballot since you'll lose if you try to push further than your magnificent victory. Things just shifted in public psyche after the City Council vote.

And you will lose in court on the franchise issue so get used to it.
12
#4

What happened to the apartment building spree in Seattle?

13
I still haven't seen a convincing argument, or any argument really, for lumping mom-and-pop franchisees in with big business. The franchiser company doesn't pay the wages for their franchisees, but for purposes of size classification we pretend they do? I don't get it.
14
@12
What do you mean?
15
@13

You are correct: it is a good question.

The dividing line if you want one should be between profitable or not profitable -- and that is far too complex (maybe illegal?) to administer.

I am pretty sure the City will lose on that one UNLESS it can show that IN FACT franchisor (e.g. McDonald's Corp) is responsible for paying costs of franchisee. Since one point of franchising is for franchisor NOT to have to micro-manage every outlet, I doubt such connection can be shown.
17
The most important question for Seattle is whether straight white men should be allowed to receive the minimum wage. They have received so much "white male privilege" over the years...

18
@13 The reason is that 15 Now has since its inception consisted of a lot of (maybe even a majority of?) workers in the fast food industry. They're really the face of minimum wage workers. It has everything to do with that and really nothing to do with the resources or financial situation of those businesses.
19
@16: Maybe because there is no evidence for any of that, and no historical precedence to think any of it will happen. It is not like this is the first time the minimum wage has been raised.

I know a lot of people think that "It just WILL happen" is a good argument, but it really is not.

Just like I ask everyone making the claims you are making, do you have any evidence? I doubt your answer will surprise me.
20
I live in the city but work just outside the city. I am worried that prices will go up and I will have to move to some shithole with even fewer transit options (I can't afford a car).
21
I live in the city but work just outside the city. I am worried that prices will go up, my wages won't, and I will have to move to some shithole with even fewer transit options (I can't afford a car).
23
The fight isn't over for me for sure: I now need to get out of this city in 11 months because I'm about to be out of a job. At least I have a little more time to get my things together and move out of state or just out of the city. If I had known Seattle was this authoritarian, I would have stayed in Poughkeepsie.

On the bright side, Bellevue will be BOOMING thanks to this. I and most restaurant workers and business owners will be singing this song in a year from now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L09qnRfZ…
24
How this will impact Seattle jobs that currently pay $15/hr is key, and should be of great interest to anyone with a BS/BA degree. That is a typical starting wage for entry-level, professional services support jobs: (paralegal, legal secretary, engineering project assistant, financial services). Working for professionals with degrees - you need to have at least a 4-year degree yourself to even get an interview. I know because I was involved with hiring for such jobs - don't even bother if you have an AA degree or just worked your way up from the bottom: educated people like educated people working for them.

I would imagine that firms that want better employees than those hired by Burger King will have to bump up the entry level to $20+/hr or so. IF this doesn't happen, and wages stagnate, that would be a good indication Seattle is maxed out in terms of applicants with BS/BA degrees. If wages do go up - it would be a good indication of growth, with some inflation to follow.
25
@18
Hate to sound like an asshole but do you really think that adult fast food workers are knowledgeable enough on economics to be making policy decisions like this?

Why the fuck is it that a CEO with an MBA and years of running a giant organization (a corporation) should be ignored when it comes to policy decisions but a barely high school educated burger flipper should be listened to?

This city is idiotic.
26

$15/hr in Detroit would be a king's ransom.

I hope this phenomena spreads!

27
@13: Those "mom-and-pop franchisees" are, in effect, part of enormous businesses. They accept much greater personal risk than a store manager would, but their operations are largely controlled by the franchise organization.
28
Did anyone else notice that Kshama Sawant is the ONLY ONE of these people who knows how to make a fist?

They're gonna break their thumbs if they try SMASHING THE STATE like that!
29
@ collectivism sucks: PLEASE leave Seattle sooner if you can?

Thanks
30
#24, your entire post was completely contradictory.

You think wages will go up because the swing block of underpaid college grads just decided someone who works at fucking Burger King is worth more than them?

You then say that skill doesn't matter to educated people, they simply want to coexist with other sexless, raceless, nothings.

Sooo.. I think that four-year degree will be the deciding factor on whether or not people get jobs where you are.

Like it already is.

Enjoy being worth less.

Rubber ducky, you're the one.
31
@25 See. This is the kind of logic that creates "Programmes to Civilise the Negro" and that kind of bullshit. The point is that a CEO has no frame of reference for what the people at the foundation of his organization NEED, but thinks he knows so much more about everything that he doesn't have to actually ASK THEM. Well, now minimum wage workers have basically TOLD him, loudly and clearly, that what they need is a fucking raise. Wages in America have stagnated for decades, but hopefully setting a reasonable price on the value of unskilled labor will propagate "upwards" and stimulate demand (money means buying power), and maybe even allow working-class families to begin accumulating at least a small measure of intergenerational wealth/assets (education, property, and/or modest retirement funds), replacing the niche lost during the collapse of manufacturing with that created during the expansion of service-sector in America. Obviously there is no absolute guarantee that this is a good idea - but we made bigger, deeper changes to this entire country during the huge failure that was neo-liberalism (which is the school of thought that "educated" our previously-mentioned clueless CEO), so maybe a few experiments are what we need to start dismantling that ugly zombie machine and get going on the next big idea.
32
It'd be awe-inspiring to behold the supporters of the Stranger's ill-advised and ill-gained political desires suddenly come to the forefront of the debate with their desire to require degrees for the most menial of tasks if it weren't the most self-defeating set of arguments ever constructed.

For the time being, it's just funny.
33
Yeah, I know I misspelled a word. It's 'bloc', not 'block'.

And I know I just made a grammatical error.

And another one. Ad nauseum.

How do you feel?

Maybe you should go spend five years publicly ridiculing every member of my race as a response.

That'd be good.
34
Enjoy your long life as a career Ivar's employee, Dominic.

Maybe you'll become a supervisor one day!
35
so in the next10-15 years Seattle will be the next Detroit
36
Do believe me when I tell you that your lives have, do, and will consist of an unending series of missteps, blunders, faux pas, mistakes, misrepresentations, and your reflections in the mirror.

youtube.com/watch?v=qNqQC7R_Me4

I told you I wasn't fucking kidding.
37
Little miss Piecuch is a worthless piece of shit.
38
I cannot wait ten damn years for my wage to rise to 15. Correct me if I'm wrong, but my employer qualifies as a "small business", with 23 stores (22 out of state) and about 180 employees. It does $18 million annually.

Look, had minimum wage kept up with inflation since the law's inception, we'd now make over $21/hr. Add worker gains in productivity, and it rises to 28.

And has a Cost Of Living Allowance (COLA) been conveniently ignored? If so, it won't be long before any wage gains will be eroded by inflation.

It's a sorry beginning.
39
Keep on simultaneously decrying the fall of American grades while demanding more money.

It will get you to Portland even faster.
40
@22: Haha, it is adorable that you think those articles prove your point.

Half of them are just saying that things "may" happen, and the other half are looking solely at very samll, contained environments like military bases or other countries with extremly different economic realities. One is just a person complaining that a parking fee went up.

Don't worry, with the raise you will be getting, you should be able to save up enough to move out of Seattle in 30 years instead of 40.
41
"I cannot wait ten damn years for my wage to rise to 15. "''

Then start your own business, or improve your skills, learn computer science. Don't just be a whiney pussy.
42
Kshama and 15 Now are wrong to declare victory. Perhaps a small victory in a long, protracted and bitter class war. The fight, indeed, has only just begun.
43
The bourgeois parasitical scum who are complaining up here apparently believe that capitalist economics constitute some sort of natural law - like gravity - and that the poor and working class majority should just continue to grab ankle and accept their plight without a fight.

Workers! Let's keep fighting, and finish the class war that the capitalist 1% and their middle class lackeys started! We can't win unless we are united and this insurrection spreads across the country.

Business owners who refuse to abide by the law must have their personal and business assets seized and control of the business given over to the workers to reorganize as a cooperative enterprise under the protection and auspices of the state and organized labor.
45
@38

Maybe you should just try to get a better job? You live in a city with one of the highest median incomes in the nation and still make minimum wage. That should *really* tell you something about yourself.
47
@44: If you have so much evidence, why won't you share it? If it is so obvious, why can't you amke a convincing case for it? If it is so well documented, why can't you furnish one link to something reputable?

All you offer is more empty, sky-is-falling rhetoric.

I do find it funny that you claim the person demanding evidence for baseless assertions is naive, and not the person making baseless assertions.
49
@48: Hmm, so there is just too much evidence, and too many studies for you to link to one. I see.

Do you have any evidence that I can not understand or will not read anything you link to? Do you have any evidence that I do not understand basic economics?

Because it looks to me like you are talking out of your ass. Link one reputable study that proves your assertions. It should be so easy, but you can't.

Someone already hired me at over $15 an hour, years ago. What are you babbling about? And by the way, it is "you're stupid," not "your stupid."

Also, when my eight year old niece is caught in a lie she uses basically the same dodge. I think it's cute.
50
To all the privileged middle and upper class scum who deride #38 and others who make poverty wages I say: Not everyone came from a wealthy family where everything was handed to them - a free high quality education, connections, confidence and security.

To those select few from the lower classes who are able to "rise above" and better their economic situation who then look down on where they came from: Not everyone can so easily sell out their family and friends and adopt the smug, arrogant, fawning and slavish, house n***a attitude required to kiss up to the rich and gain their favor.

Education is becoming increasingly unaffordable and we can't sustain a healthy economy on everyone being a computer programmer or technician. I've seen people come in and out like a revolving door through the community college where I worked because there is no guarantee of gainful employment in your field when you get out of school with lots of debt.

I suggest all underpaid restaurant workers to learn to read the body language of yuppie scum that you serve and you will also be able to feel their condescension and contempt for you. Remember this as you handle their food.

53
@51: Post #38 was not me, genius. At least I can count.

But geez, not even going to try? You have even less than I thought. At least grow a spine and try to defend your bullshit.
54
Mistral, you're the one that's lookin' to get a shit sandwich. Better keep your condescending classist attitude in check when you eat out in Seattle.
55
Hey #54, I'm right fucking here.
56
I have to say, it looks like the Trotskyshites have betrayed the workers again. Throughout the cold war they denigrated the Soviet Union, and continue to do so, but they have never delivered on revolution and never can. The Soviets were far from perfect, but the working class was really in control there. There was no such thing as unemployment or homelessness; healthcare and education through grad school was free. Rents were capped at around 10% or less of income, and utilities, transportation and cultural activities were heavily subsidized. Sick pay, vacation and maternity leave were very generous - and the Soviets beat the U.$. into space with Sputnik.

Communism DID work - that's why it had to be destroyed. After being invaded shortly after its birth in 1917 by 14 capitalist powers from all over Europe, including the U.$. and Japan and facing massive obliteration during WWII from the Nazis (the Red Army destroyed over 80% of the Nazi war machine - so thank the USSR, not the U.$. - who entered the European theater late - for the defeat of fascism), it had to face decades of sabotage, subversion and psychological warfare by the CIA and they finally threw in the towel.

Supporting national liberation and progressive movements throughout the world finally taxed its strength to the limit - and so-called leftists in this country still give the Soviet Union no credit and continue to hurl invective at it.

57
... Look at how they fight, and there is your answer.

Throw the peasants at the machine guns.

That's all you need to know about said civilization.
58
As I've indicated in previous comments, I'm very disappointed in Kshama's performance and how she and 15 Now gave in so quickly and easily.

However, I do have some sympathy for her plight. I'm sure the local (and possibly national) ruling elites used the carrot and the stick routine on her to woo, bribe and simultaneously threaten her to get her to back off her stance a bit. If the carrot doesn't work, then soft (character) assassination works well. A leader that could galvanize a national movement of liberation could even face the real possibility of hard assassination - being literally killed.

Most people have absolutely no idea what kind of gangster, sociopathic, evil trash really rule this country. They're prepared to face off with Russia in their pursuit of world domination. What do you think they will do to a Seattle city councilor?
60
Does anyone know what the wage for teenagers and "trainees" will be? Also, how long can someone be paid a training wage?
62
Ballot initiative. (by the by, did YOU sign I-1329? --- http://www.WAamend.org ).
64
This is all a distraction for the real issue that is destroying the American Economy and Dream: the exorbitant expense of maintaining the military industrial complex ("MIC"). It is not surprising that many corporations are stating that they will support a minimum wage pay increase ... these are the same corporations who invest heavily in the MIC. The benefits will be (at least) twofold: (1) higher wages = more taxation which will be directed towards the MIC and (2) the dividends generated by the maintenance of the MIC vis-Ă -vis defense industry, the maintenance of innumerable bases in foreign companies, and, of course, the MIC's insatiable appetite for wars and destruction. Oh, of course, the other benefit will be that small business will be largely destroyed as the wage hikes are introduced -- after that ... guess what? Corporations are the only business in town. RIP Small Business and Long Live War. Apparently.
66
i dont think i will be able to stand the sight of these minimum wage workers lording over our down trodden business owners who will be forced to sell parts of their bodies to wild dogs just to keep their beloved businesses afloat

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