worker rights
Washington minimum wage to top $16 an hour next year
Minimum wage workers in Washington will get a pay hike in January. The state’s minimum wage will rise to $16.28 an hour starting Jan. 1, the Washington Department of Labor and Industries has announced. That’s a 54-cent increase from the current hourly rate of $15.74, which is the highest of any state in the nation […]
As paid family leave claims rise in Washington, the wait for benefits gets longer
Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program wants to hire 49 more employees to deal with steadily rising demand that has some people waiting over a month to receive benefits. The state Employment Security Department asked for authority to hire the workers in a 2024 supplemental budget request submitted to Gov. Jay Inslee earlier this […]
Labor leader Shuler touts union support as possible auto strikes loom
Support for unions is growing amid shifting working conditions and labor disputes around the country, according to Liz Shuler, the president of the largest labor group in the country. In Shuler’s comments Tuesday at the AFL-CIO’s first State of the Unions event in Washington, she cited polling that showed support for unions cut across party […]
Vote by Fred Meyer workers to organize marks big win for Washington union
The last non-union Fred Meyer employees within a six-county area of western Washington voted to organize by an overwhelming margin, 39-12, on Thursday. “Walking into that store [right now] is like walking into a wall of union support,” said Colton Rose, a union organizer, ahead of the vote in a text message. “I’d hate to […]
Lyft shortchanged thousands of drivers on pay, state investigators find
More than 15,000 Lyft drivers were paid less than required under new pay standards Washington enacted this year for the app-based ride-booking sector, a recent investigation by the state Department of Labor & Industries found. After state officials contacted Lyft, the company conducted a self-audit and determined it owed nearly $193,000 in back pay to […]
Upcoming Fred Meyer union vote marks culmination of recent organizing push
The merchandise department at a Fred Meyer store in Lacey is the last non-union holdout among the major retail chain’s stores in a six-county swath of western Washington — but that may change after workers there hold a union election on Thursday. If the effort succeeds, employees in the store’s general merchandise wing will join […]