When will Olympia council discuss minimum wage and workers’ bill of rights? Here’s what happens 1st
The last time Olympia officials spoke about the proposal to raise the minimum wage and adopt a Workers’ Bill of Rights was Dec. 13, when council member Jim Cooper expressed frustration with how long it was taking to figure things out.
It turns out the council wants to slow down the process rather than speed it up.
Assistant City Manager Stacey Ray said the council discussed during its recent retreat if addressing a Workers’ Bill of Rights, or some part of it, should be included in the council’s 2025 work plan.
She said they determined they need to do thorough outreach and engagement, and they directed her to lead staff to complete research and fact-finding about the issue and about Olympia’s economy.
The Finance Committee will discuss the scope of research at their next meeting Feb. 18.
City Manager Jay Burney said during a Jan. 27 Finance Committee meeting the topic is a top priority for the council along with budget sustainability.
Council member Jim Cooper suggested Ray try to engage with folks at either branch of the University of Washington, in Seattle or Tacoma, who are engaged in wage and workplace research.
In an interview with The Olympian on Jan. 24, Cooper said he’s hopeful other council members will support making a higher minimum wage and the Workers’ Bill of Rights part of the conversation.
“It was really clear that there was a lot of interest and a lot of angst, and I think we have to have the right community engagement process to get it right, but I think it’s really clear to me that the broad community supports a small minimum wage increase and those worker protections as a package,” Cooper said.
Council member Clark Gilman told The Olympian the council will work in the coming months to learn more about minimum wage and worker protection concerns from both workers and employers.
He said the council wants to better define the problems to be solved, look at the approaches taken in other communities, and understand who works for low wages and who employs low-wage workers.
Proposal background
The Olympia City Council formally discussed the minimum wage and Workers’ Bill of Rights proposal on Oct. 22. The proposal included raising the minimum wage to $20.29. That amount is the standard King County has set for large employers, and it’s scheduled to rise with inflation there every year.
The council decided in October it would postpone any further discussion of a $20.29 minimum wage and adoption of a Workers’ Bill of Rights until its next retreat. Mayor Dontae Payne said the council needed more time to figure out the best way to engage the public on the issue, after the Finance Committee originally set a 90-day exploratory period on the plan and the city received an unprecedented amount of feedback from the public.
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