LONG BEACH, Wash. – Jobs are coming back and incomes are improving across Washington state, but families still are struggling to pay for the basics, according to a new report.

The analysis Time for a Raise: Statewide Growth and Washington's Minimum Wage found many of the jobs in the Evergreen State's growing economy are low-wage. It says workers in those jobs are finding it hard to cover increasing costs for housing, child care and other necessities.

Study author Marilyn Watkins, policy director for the Economic Opportunity Institute, believes voters should pass Initiative 1433 this November and raise the minimum wage for workers.

"Those are important jobs. Those people should not be living in poverty; paying them something that's going to allow them to cover the basics and live in basic dignity is an important thing," says Watkins. "It also is something that's going to help boost our own economy. When people have a little more to spend, they're going to spend that money."

Initiative 1433 would raise the minimum wage to $13.50 an hour statewide by 2020. Opponents of the measure argue that the increase could cost jobs or mean that businesses will have to raise their prices; some have suggested the minimum wage should be increased regionally rather than statewide.

The measure also would require employers to provide paid sick leave for employees.

Tiffany Turner, CEO of the Adrift Hotel in Long Beach, Wash., says she supports the initiative. Turner is convinced it's shortsighted to think only about any initial squeeze businesses might feel because of an increased minimum wage.

"We're a low-wage industry, but we fundamentally pride ourselves on how we treat our workers and how we work within our community," she says of the hospitality industry. "And I think that businesses can and will figure out how to adapt, and ultimately I believe it will make our businesses stronger."

Watkins points to recent studies that have looked at neighboring counties across state lines and found a number of benefits to raising the minimum wage, including higher worker retention.

"What does happen when you raise the minimum wage is that incomes for low-wage workers rise and turnover decreases among low-wage workers," says Watkins. "So, that saves businesses lots of money, and there really is no impact on the number of jobs that are available."



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ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Minnesota government has a new budget in place, but it's still trying to wrap up the latest two-year contracts for state employees.

After a year in which workers helped agencies and residents through the pandemic, unions are pressing for what they call transformative changes. Negotiations could wrap up sometime this week.

Amid those talks, state workers represented by unions rallied at the state Capitol Wednesday.

Megan Dayton, statewide president of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE), said they are still fighting for telework opportunities.

"Not just because it helps keep our workforce safe and supported, but because it keeps the cost of public service down," Dayton asserted.

The Minnesota Office of Management and Budget would not comment on specific provisions, but said the work state employees do makes Minnesota a great place to live.

According to MAPE negotiators, state officials indicated that now is not the time for a long-term commitment on telework. Other union members pressed for contract language that establishes equity, diversity and inclusion.

Rhianon Sargent, program specialist for the Minnesota Department of Education and a MAPE member, told the crowd there was pushback over specific proposals concerning equity and diversity. She argued state leaders need to follow up on previous pledges in this area.

"We need MMB and the governor's team to show that they are truly committed to what they have stated as EDI priorities," Sargent urged.

Minnesota government employs more than 30,000 people in 78 agencies. More than 15,000 of those workers are represented by MAPE.

The union also continues to press the state to address what it calls the misuse of temporary unclassified positions. MAPE emphasized it leads to high turnover and low morale, while disproportionately affecting BIPOC workers.

BOSTON - The AFL-CIO is holding a week of action to urge Congress to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize - or PRO - Act, what some labor activists call the most important bill for workers' rights in decades.

The bill would expand collective bargaining rights, bolster workers' access to union elections and require companies to respect election results.

Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Steven Tolman noted that far fewer workers are covered under collective-bargaining agreements with unions than were 40 years ago - and he said that's correlated with stagnating wages.

"What the PRO Act would do is, it would dramatically increase penalties for employers that violate - or had had been violating - the workers' rights for the last decade," said Tolman.

He said the PRO Act also would close loopholes that companies sometimes use to avoid paying benefits. It would institute an "ABC test," a set of guidelines to determine who is an independent contractor.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey filed a lawsuit against Uber and Lyft last year, saying they were misclassifying workers as independent contractors.

App-based companies such as Uber and Lyft oppose the PRO Act, and support testing language for a possible ballot initiative - such as Prop 22 in California last year - to allow them to keep classifying workers as independent contractors. They say that's to give them flexibility and independence.

But Tolman said he thinks it's an attempt to get out of providing the wages and benefits these employees deserve. He said these companies wouldn't pass the ABC test.

"But yet this company comes into Massachusetts, operates as though they're independent contractors, doesn't pay unemployment insurance, doesn't pay workers comp insurance, doesn't pay Social Security, doesn't provide sick time," said Tolman.

The PRO Act passed the House back in March, and Tolman added that Sen. Ed Markey - D-Mass. - and Sen. Elizabeth Warren - D-Mass. - are in support.

But he said other states' delegations need to get on board - particularly in the South, where far fewer workers are unionized.

CORRECTION: The eight-hour workday clause in the contract applies only to the housekeeping staff. (8:57 a.m. PST, July 23, 2021)

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Health care workers at four Portland hospitals are celebrating a hard-won new five-year union contract with Legacy Healthcare.

The new contract affects about 1,100 housekeepers, dietary workers, certified nursing assistants and patient admission representatives.

Sunita Patel has been a housekeeper at Legacy Emanuel for the past 18 years and helped negotiate the contract as part of the union negotiating team for Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 49.

The contract will bring her back to an eight-hour day, after after being reduced to 7.5 hours at the beginning of the pandemic. She says housekeepers now will have more time to do a thorough job of infection control, where lives are at stake.

"Whether it's a COVID room or not," said Patel, "we have to make sure that it's disinfected with proper chemicals. If you don't, then the next patient is going to be picking that up."

With the new contract, workers now will pay less for medical benefits, get access continuing education through the SEIU & Joint Employer Education Fund, and will be able to take advantage of an expanded list of religious holidays.

Patel noted that a majority of the workers are Black, Latino or Asian, and have been struggling to make ends meet. She said all hospital workers deserve a fair contract - especially after 18 months of working on the front lines of the pandemic.

"Every employee that works in that hospital," said Patel. "When we leave our house, we are in that fear. What if we pick it up. What if we bring it back to our families."

The contract benefits members of SEIU 49 who work at Legacy Emanuel, Good Samaritan Medical Center, Unity Center for Behavioral Health and Randall Children's Hospital.