Socialist Alternative: Seattle on Verge of Passing $15 Minimum Wage

By Calvin Pope

Working people across the country are being galvanized by the fight for 15, with the movement in Seattle headlining in national and international publications. As the Seattle City Council debates a plan for a $15 minimum wage, protests and strikes in over 150 cities took place on May 15th. A recent social media posting about victory for $15 in Seattle was shared more than 150,000 times and viewed by millions.

Led by 15 Now, labor, and Socialist Alternative City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, the movement has forced a plan for $15/hr onto the agenda of the Seattle city government. Reflecting this intense pressure, Democratic Mayor Ed Murray and his advisory committee of business and labor leaders proposed to the city council raising Seattle’s minimum wage to $15 in 2017.

This would be the highest minimum wage in the nation, raising 100,000 Seattle workers out of poverty. Economists estimate it would mean businesses would have to pay their Seattle employees $3 billion more over the next 10 years. This represents a huge victory for working people, particularly against the background of three decades of unrelenting attacks and defeats.

But the fight isn’t over yet. While conceding $15 business and the Mayor have inserted a number of loopholes in to the proposal to soften the blow to corporate profits as much as politically possible. These include a 3-4 year phase-in for big business and a 7-10 year phase-in for the majority of businesses, as well as a temporary tip penalty and healthcare deduction.

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