Resolution to Restore Funding for the City of Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards

October 17, 2024

WHEREAS, Seattle is recognized nationally as a vanguard for pro-worker policy and workers rights due to our work to win the first major $15 minimum wage policy in a major city in the country, our ordinances that protect domestic workers and rideshare drivers, and our sick and safe leave policies; and

WHEREAS, laws are meaningless without enforcement. The Office of Labor Standards (OLS) was established to enforce these laws in Seattle. The Seattle Office of Labor Standards is the best labor law enforcement agency in the country. Using a strategic enforcement model in which the agency partners with community-based organizations, OLS has recouped over $42 million dollars in stolen wages and violated workplace rights for nearly 90,000 Seattle workers; and

WHEREAS, in the 2023 Seattle City Council elections, corporations spent heavily to elect a new city council. This new council’s first budget could defund wage theft protections for workers; and

WHEREAS, the Seattle City Council is currently proposing to cut OLS’s budget by $600,000 in 2024, and $800,000 in 2025. These cuts will result in three less Full Time Equivalent (FTE) PROTEC 17 represented positions, as well as $100,000 in cuts to the Business Outreach & Education grants (BOEF) in 2025, $100,000 in cuts to the BOEF in 2026 and $500,000 in cuts to Community Outreach & Education grants (COEF) in 2026.

WHEREAS, MLK Labor has been a good faith partner to the City of Seattle to generate additional progressive revenue to pay for programs and services for residents and workers, including advocating for the passage of the JumpStart payroll excise tax in 2020.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that MLK Labor will oppose cuts to the City of Seattle Office of Labor Standards in the 2025-2026 budget. MLK Labor will send a letter expressing this opposition to Mayor Harrell, Budget Chair Councilmember Dan Strauss, and the other eight city council members, and will encourage affiliates to do the same.