When Seattle passed the nation's first citywide $15 minimum wage, some of the most outspoken Chicken Littles forecast that the economy would crash and the sky would fall in a matter of months. The numbers released today show how desperately wrong they were.
Read MoreCity-commissioned scheduling survey shows insecure & unstable schedules are widespread, have inequitable impacts
Despite serious methodological issues, the full 119-page city-commissioned report reaffirms the need for action on secure scheduling by showing how frequently workers experience short-notice schedules, clopens, and access to hours issues, and how inequitable the impacts are.
A funny thing happened when a business lobby group surveyed workers about scheduling
An industry lobby group surveyed workers about scheduling, and a quarter to a third reported issues with flexibility, advance notice, and access to hours — and that's just the answers the lobby group released!
Read MoreSecure Scheduling means balance and flexibility
We support a secure scheduling ordinance that includes advance notice of our schedules so we can plan our lives, predictability pay for being flexible if things change, shift swapping for additional flexibility when life happens, access to hours for those who want them, and a right to rest which eliminates mandatory clopens
Read MoreTell City Council: you can't live your life on a few day's notice
It takes less than two minutes for you to tell City Council you support secure scheduling policies, including advance notice of schedules, right to rest, and access to hours. Whatever your job is and whatever your schedule is like, take a moment and let Council know that our time counts, too!
Read MoreRe: Howard Schultz letter on working conditions at Starbucks
Baristas aren't going to stop organizing until they see that personal commitment from the CEO become a reality in every store, and see it be matched by a corporate commitment to support secure scheduling policies in Seattle and across the country.
Read MoreRemember when they said higher wages would be bad news?
Restaurant & hotel owners are now reporting that the economy is so strong, they're having trouble hiring — and that higher wages are spreading into the area around Seattle.
Read MoreWorking Washington is hiring a Communications Specialist
Communications Specialist
Working Washington's mission is to build a powerful workers’ movement that can not only dramatically improve wages and working conditions, but can also change the local and national conversation about wealth, inequality, and the value of work.
Working Washington fast food strikers sparked the fight that won Seattle’s first-in-the-nation $15 minimum wage. We successfully drove Amazon to sever ties with the right-wing lobby group ALEC and improve conditions in their sweatshop warehouses. We helped lead the winning campaign in SeaTac for a $15 living wage. And we continue to break new ground as baristas push for a landmark secure scheduling ordinance in Seattle and our organization grows across the state.
We are seeking a creative and talented person to join our communications team and help build the power of workers in our state at a time when the mass media is melting away, standard approaches to communications are increasingly ineffective, and fewer and fewer people are tied in to conventional information networks.
The successful candidate will demonstrate talent for design & video; facility with a range of digital communications tools and tactics; a creative, experimental approach to getting the word out and changing the debate; and a strong ability to independently move projects forward.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
Principal duties and responsibilities include:
- Support high-profile worker organizing & workers rights campaigns including secure scheduling and minimum wage through the use of design, video, and new digital tools.
- Conceive, draft, and produce content for multiple channels & audiences that amplifies worker voices and helps move the debate on our issues.
- Help dream up and execute creative new ideas for reaching supporters, influencers, and elected officials — because press releases, direct mail, and blog posts clearly aren’t enough.
- Establish a distinct, appropriate, and consistent organizational style.
- Contribute to Working Washington’s social media and web presence, in coordination with online organizing team.
- Help manage technology and data systems, including some data import and data entry as needed.
- Amplify the voices and stories of workers through multiple modes and tools, primarily digitally.
- Quickly produce sticky & compelling work that grows our reach with key audiences.
- Experiment with innovative and forward-thinking tools & tactics to advance our campaigns, and be ready to adjust strategies as campaigns progress.
- Work directly with workers and community supporters as needed to fulfill campaign goals, including story collection, interviews, media prep, etc.
- Participate directly in the political and organizing work of Working Washington, including marches, rallies, protests, actions, door-knocking, get-out-the-vote, signature gathering, and other campaign activities.
JOB QUALIFICATIONS:
- Strong video and design skills, including experience producing quick and fluid work on a variety of topics without being dull.
- Comfort with various digital platforms & willingness to learn new tools.
- Eagerness to amplify the voices of low-wage workers across the state, and willingness to take calculated risks when appropriate to advance our campaign.
- Discontent with being boring.
- Willingness to work long and irregular hours, including evenings and weekends.
- Dedication to the mission of Working Washington.
- Strong technical skills a major plus.
COMPENSATION:
Staff union pay scale, based on experience. Generous benefits package, including fully-paid family health care, employer matched 401k, and vacation and sick leave.
Submission Instructions:
Please send a résumé and cover letter, along with one or two relevant samples of your work by July 25, 2016, to jobs@workingwa.org
Working Washington is an Equal Opportunity Employer
To the ballot with 360,000 signatures for $13.50
Working Washington and a broad coalition of other organizations across the state just turned in 360,000 signatures to get Initiative 1433 on the ballot in November to raise the minimum wage to $13.50 and provide paid sick days. Your signature was probably one of them
Read MoreThey spent more than $14,000. We charged $10.
Former top Starbucks exec Howard Behar recently spent more than $14,000 to buy a full-page ad in the Seattle Times. We don’t have that kind of money to burn, so we charged $10 for tickets to our Secure Scheduling Story Slam. Here’s the thing: we also showed up in the Seattle Times.
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