Supporting of App-based Worker Minimum Wage 

      540 540 34th Democrats

      Passed by the membership on August 14th, 2024


      Resolution in Support of App-based Worker Minimum WageAdopted Resolution 

      WHEREAS the Washington State Democrats have called for “Legislating respect for workers [with] Government protection for workers in the gig economy” and, consistent with this value, the 34th District Democrats support ending the wealth gap and income inequity, living wages tied to the area’s median market housing rate, promoting healthy, harassment free workplaces, whistleblower, and workplace organizer protections, a $15 per hour federal minimum wage and local adoption of living wage standards in line with area median income, ensuring that every Seattle worker can support themselves and their families is a critical tool in reducing homelessness by ensuring that workers can remain housed and afford their other basic needs; and

      WHEREAS federal minimum wage laws were developed with exclusions for certain industries and categories of workers, resulting in racialized disparities in earning power and incidents of workplace abuse that drive down working conditions for all workers and weaken the local economy, every worker in Seattle should have minimum wage protection with no exceptions; and

      WHEREAS Seattle and the State of Washington have a proud legacy of strengthening labor standards to improving working conditions, including leading the national movement to increase the minimum wage, and passing the Seattle Domestic Worker Ordinance in 2018 thereby creating the right to minimum wage for all domestic workers in the city regardless of classification as an employee or independent contractor, and having a substantial positive impact on a previously unregulated industry; and

      WHEREAS app-based workers:

      • organized for the right to minimum wage and the law was approved unanimously by the council and supported by Mayor Bruce Harrell in 2022; the law is the product of good governance, shaped thoughtfully and deliberately by a workforce that is largely made up of immigrants and refugees, people with disabilities, working parents, and young people; enacting this law, 
      • “face unique barriers to economic security and disproportionately must accept low-wage, unsafe, and insecure working conditions” and Black and Latinx workers are “disproportionately deprived of core employee protections” because corporations treat them as independent contractors;
      • in Seattle were paid nearly $14,000,000 in settlements with Postmates, UberEats, GrubHub and Instacart for alleged violations of Seattle labor standards to date; and

      WHEREAS, when the law went into effect, the regulated corporations responded by imposing substantial new fees on customer orders in a coordinated effort to undermine the law,  making delivery cost-prohibitive for customers and hindering workers’ and local businesses’ ability to support themselves; and, at the Seattle City Council Governance Committee meeting on March 28, 2024, the public learned that the Seattle City Council has been considering amending or repealing this new law, and that negotiations on the proposed policy to date have only included gig corporations and Drive Forward, an Uber controlled and funded lobbying group, and have excluded workers and their representatives; and that proposed changes would cut worker pay, eliminate legal protections for workers from retaliation, and make it much harder for workers to enforce their rights,

      THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED the 34th District Democrats support the minimum wage and other protections for low-wage, app-based workers.

      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the 34th District Democrats call on all Seattle City Councilmembers to maintain support for this important law; to commit to open and transparent policymaking that includes all stakeholders, particularly workers; and to affirm that Seattle must continue to be a city where working families are able to thrive and support themselves with living wages. 

      BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED the 34th District Democrats urge its membership to take action and communicate their support for gig worker minimum wage.


      Submitted by Rachel Glass, Vice Chair and PCO, 34th District Democrats, April 2024