Sea-Tac Airport workers, community and business allies file petitions for Good Jobs Initiative at SeaTac City Hall

Celebration as supporters turn in signatures from 2,500 SeaTac voters, well above the qualifying threshold

When: Wednesday, June 5, 2013, 1:30 p.m.

Where: SeaTac City Hall, 4800 S. 188th Street, SeaTac, WA 98188

Who: SeaTac Airport workers, community supporters, SeaTac small business owners

Visuals: Marching band, One Love; balloons and handmade signs proclaiming “Good jobs, healthy communities,” Sea-Tac Airport workers filing petition signatures for the SeaTac Good Jobs Initiative

Today the SeaTac Good Jobs Initiative takes a major step forward as supporters will file more than 2,500 signatures and call on the city to place the initiative on the November 2013 ballot. Only 1,541 valid signatures are required to qualify the measure in the city.

It took airport workers and their community supporters less than 4 weeks of door-to-door canvassing to collect the signatures. The signature total represents nearly half of all SeaTac residents who voted in the 2011 general election.

Workers and their supporters will deliver their signatures to the SeaTac City Clerk’s office with the help of a marching band, balloons and celebratory signs.

“Today we celebrate in SeaTac. Filing the initiative shows how the community is coming together in its care and concern for one another. When working families can be paid properly and thrive, our whole community benefits,” said Rev. Jan Bolerjack, pastor of Riverton Park United Methodist Church.

“It’s great that so many people support the SeaTac Good Jobs Initiative and it was easy to get signatures.” said Assadollah Valibiergi, a wheelchair attendant who works for Alaska Airlines contractor Bags, Inc. “When I knocked on doors, people understood that we all do better when workers are paid better. I’m sure that when it comes time in November, SeaTac voters will support low wage workers having full-time work and better wages.”

Thousands of poverty wage workers in and around the airport, the vast majority of whom live and shop in south King County, would see their lives improved by the initiative. Local economies could see an infusion of nearly $40 million a year into the City of SeaTac and surrounding communities.

“As a small business owner, I know that when people make more money, they spend more money in their community,” said Mohamed Ali, owner of the SeaTac International Market. “A good wage keeps qualified employees, builds customer loyalty, supports us directly or indirectly in resulting higher sales for small business in the city. When workers win, business wins and our communities win.”

The measure would set basic employment standards for workers employed in the transportation, tourism and hospitality industries in SeaTac, including paid sick leave, full-time work for those who need it, a living wage of at least $15/hour, job security for employees when companies change contractors, and assurances that tips and service charges go to the workers who perform the service. (SeaTac Good Jobs Initiative Fact Sheet is available online.)

The measure would cover businesses in and around the airport, including airport baggage handling, passenger services, cabin cleaning, aircraft fueling, security, and retail stores, along with hotels, rental car and parking lot facilities. Small businesses are specifically exempt.

The SeaTac Committee for Good Jobs includes a broad array of workers, faith and community supporters, union members and retirees.

For more information on the prevalence of low-wage jobs at Sea-Tac Airport, see the report Below the Radar, issued in March 2013 by Puget Sound Sage.

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Fast food workers launch strikelines across Seattle today

Workers issue call to "Strike Poverty and Raise Seattle" as fast-food strikes spread to Seattle

Strikelines going up at fast food outlets across the city as wave of national unrest hits the West Coast

Seattle fast food workers echo national call for $15 and the right to organize

It's hardly business as usual at the city's fast food outlets today, as a citywide strike that launched late last night when striking workers forced a Ballard Taco Bell to close early. has expanded to several dozen Burger King, McDonald’s, Subway, Arby's, and other national fast food chains across the city. (High-quality footage of Ballard strikelines last night available for use.)

Uniting under a call to "Strike Poverty - Raise Seattle" with a living wage of $15/hour and the right to organize without retaliation, fast food workers across the city have launched a movement they're calling "Good Jobs Seattle". They’re seeking to build a sustainable future for Seattle's economy by ensuring that fast food chains do what every profitable corporation ought to do: pay workers better than poverty wages and offer them opportunities for a better future.

WHO: Fast food workers from dozens of Taco Bell, McDonald's, Burger King, Subway, and other national fast food chain outlets across the city.

WHAT: Launch citywide strike against poverty-wage jobs, calling for better pay and the right to organize without retaliation.

WHEN & WHERE: TODAY, Thursday May 30th.

Fast food strikelines launched late last night at a Ballard Taco Bell store, and will extend to multiple locations and multiple chains throughout the day. Locations include:

* 6:30 am: Lake City: Burger King, 14340 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98125 * 9:30 am: University District: Taco del Mar, 1313 NE 42nd St, Seattle, WA 98105 * 10:30 am: SoDo/Georgetown: Strikelines hit multiple fast food outlets in the area. Workers will converge at Arby’s at 601 S Michigan, Seattle, WA 98108 * 11:30 am: Capitol Hill: Strikelines expand to multiple fast food outlets in Capitol Hill, including Chipotle, Subway, and Qdoba. Workers will converge at East Pine & Broadway. * And dozens of additional restaurants throughout the city.

Major rally and march where community supporters will join striking fast food workers: * 4:30 pm, Denny Park (100 Dexter Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109), followed by a march to nearby fast food locations, including McDonald’s.

Note: Follow the latest developments at #strikepoverty

More Information:

Seattle is the latest city to join the national surge of job actions by fast food workers, which has spread from New York to Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, and Milwaukee. This is part of a broader explosion of unrest by poverty-wage workers that includes port truck drivers in Seattle who ground container traffic to a halt by walking off the job last February, Walmart workers across the country who struck on Black Friday, and workers at Sea-Tac Airport who are organizing for good jobs and living wages.

A Good Jobs Seattle fast food fact sheet is available online.

Striking fast food workers are united in Good Jobs Seattle, a growing movement which seeks to build a sustainable future for Seattle's economy from the bottom up — by turning poverty-wage jobs in fast food and other industries into good jobs that offer opportunities for a better future and pay enough for workers to afford basic necessities like food, clothing and rent. Good Jobs Seattle is supported by organizations including Washington Community Action Network, Working Washington, OneAmerica, and hundreds of grassroots supporters.

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Contact: Sage Wilson, sage@workingwa.org

On strike in New York, on stage in Seattle -- May 2nd

New York fast-food striker to share his story in Seattle as part of "On the Edge: A Poverty-Wage Story Slam", May 2nd in Pioneer Square

Unique event will bring poverty-wage storytellers and interactive art to First Thursday

KFC employee Wilton Major was one of hundreds of New York City fast-food workers who recently took part in a historic strike which re-ignited a national conversation about poverty, opportunity, and the future of our economy at a time when 7 of the 10 fastest growing jobs pay poverty wages.

Wilton will be sharing stories about his experience on the strikelines as part of On the Edge: A Poverty-Wage Story Slam, coming to Pioneer Square for one night only, Thursday, May 2nd.

Who: Workers from retail, fast food, home care, and other poverty-wage industries, hosted by noted independent journalist Sarah Jaffe, a leading writer and commentator on social movements and low-wage work.

What: Real workers tell real stories from their real experience of living “on the edge” as part of our fast-growing poverty-wage workforce. The event will also include collective visual arts-making and boisterous audience participation, both inside the venue and out on the street.

When: Thursday, May 2nd, the First Thursday immediately following May Day. Doors open at 5:45 pm. Story slam begins at 6:00 pm. The event is free & open to the public, but space is limited. You can reserve a seat by filling out our online form.

Where: Doc Maynard’s in Pioneer Square. 610 First Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104.

This unique First Thursday event — a mash-up blending the politics of May Day and the sprit of an art walk — mixes storytelling, visual arts, audience participation, and some unsettling facts about our economy in order to highlight real stories from the real lives of poverty-wage workers who are rising up from the edge of our economy to demand good jobs and new opportunities for a better future.

In addition to Wilton, On the Edge will feature poverty-wage storytellers like:

• Darryl, a home care provider who lives in Kent. Daryl is paid astonishingly little for his valuable work caring for people in their homes. Every month, he's left having to choose which bills to pay. He just wants a paycheck that lets him do the work he cares about, keep up on his bills, and maybe even be able to afford to do something fun every once in a while.
• Pancho, a 50-year-old who has been working in poverty-wage retail and fast food jobs most of the last decade. Despite working odd hours and being promised raises, Pancho has only seen his pay rate increase from $9.04/hr to $9.19/hr in the two years he’s worked at the same burger chain outlet. He gets about 28 hours a week, and lives with his 25-year-old son in North Seattle.
• Spencer, an airport worker who loads and unloads baggage for Alaska Airlines passengers at Sea-Tac Airport. Spencer is getting married in a few months, and he’s worried about how his new family will be able to pay for health insurance or plan for their future when he is paid so little for his work. He and his co-workers recently told their bosses that they’re forming a union.

From airport workers here at Sea-Tac to fast food workers in New York to Walmart workers across the country — in the past 6 months, unrest among poverty-wage workers on the edge of our economy has reached an intensity that hasn’t been seen in decades.

These are their stories.

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Contact: Sage Wilson, Working Washington: sage@workingwa.org

“On the Edge”, a one-of-a-kind poverty-wage arts & culture event, in Seattle May 2nd

Poverty-wage storytellers and collective artmaking blend the political spirit of May  Day with the artistic expression of First Thursday

Mash-up May Day and an art walk, and you get something like "On the Edge: A Poverty-wage Story Slam", coming to Pioneer Square on May 2nd (First Thursday) for one night only. This unique event mixes storytelling, visual arts, audience participation, and some unsettling facts about our economy in order to highlight real stories from the real lives of poverty-wage workers who are rising up from the edge of our economy to demand good jobs and new opportunities for a better future.

On the Edge will feature poverty-wage storytellers like:

• Pancho, a 50-year-old who has been working in poverty-wage retail and fast food jobs most of the last decade. Despite working odd hours and being promised raises, Pancho has only seen his pay rate increase from $9.04/hr to $9.19/hr in the two years he's worked at the same burger chain outlet. He gets about 28 hours a week, and lives with his 25-year-old son in North Seattle.
• Spencer, an airport worker who loads and unloads baggage for Alaska Airlines passengers at Sea-Tac Airport. Spencer is getting married in a few months, and he's worried about how his new family will be able to pay for health insurance or plan for their future when he is paid so little for his work. He and his co-workers recently told their bosses that they're forming a union.
• Darryl, a home care provider who lives in Kent. Daryl is paid astonishingly little for his valuable work caring for people in their homes, so every month, he's left having to choose which bills to pay. He just wants a paycheck that lets him do the work he cares about, keep up on his bills, and maybe even be able to afford to do something fun every once in a while.

Pancho, Spencer, and Darryl will be joined by other local poverty-wage workers from industries like home care, food service, retail, and airport services — which are among the fastest-growing jobs around, and also the lowest paid.

Who: Pancho, Spencer, Darryl, and other workers from retail, fast food, home care, and other poverty-wage industries, hosted by noted independent journalist Sarah Jaffe, a leading writer and commentator on social movements and low-wage work.

What:  Real workers tell real stories from their real experience of living “on the edge” as part of our fast-growing poverty-wage workforce. The event will also include collective visual arts-making and boisterous audience participation, both inside the venue and out on the street.

When: Thursday, May 2nd, the First Thursday immediately following May Day. Doors open at 5:45 pm. Story slam begins at 6:00 pm. The event is free & open to the public, but space is limited. You can reserve a seat by filling out our online form.

Where: Doc Maynard’s in Pioneer Square. 610 First Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104.

From airport workers here at Sea-Tac to fast food workers in New York to Walmart workers across the country — in the past 6 months, unrest among poverty-wage workers on the edge of our economy has reached an intensity that hasn't been seen in decades.

These are their stories.

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Contact: Sage Wilson, Working Washington, sage@workingwa.org