Labor

While the Seattle Police Officers Guild scored a big raise and new benefits, the new labor contract negotiated by Mayor Bruce Harrell will continue to hamper the City’s new civilian crisis response department and its police accountability agencies.

Last week, Mayor Bruce Harrell announced the City’s new AI Plan, which looks to harness the current artificial intelligence boom in the tech sector by integrating AI into the City’s operations, public services, and civic engagement. But critics worry about the ethical implications of AI use in public services, as well as its potential impacts on workers and environmental harms.

In the middle of a homelessness crisis, Seattle is still allowing employers to reject qualified job applicants simply because they don’t have a permanent address. That’s discrimination, and the Seattle City Attorney should lead the way in banning the practice.

Burien residents should vote for Measure 1 because it will actually raise pay for low-wage workers. The Burien City Council has sought to muddy the waters, but their alternative is riddled with exemptions and a tip penalty that will largely erase the benefit to workers.

Public defenders are warning that public defense as we know it is on course to collapse in King County and across the state if officials do not intervene with reforms and more resources.

The Fight for $15 has been won. Now housing affordability is Seattle’s biggest challenge. Repealing wage standards would be a setback.

Seattle service workers are set to get a major wage hike, unless restaurant lobbyists get their way. But policymakers can support the restaurant industry in better ways than simply cutting worker pay.

The Seattle City Council is queuing up a debate on appropriate wages for service workers at smaller employers. At the behest of restaurant owners, Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth is seeking to cancel a scheduled minimum wage increase.