Some workers in Burien might soon see their paychecks increase.
Measure 1, a citizen initiative to expand Burien’s minimum wage policy, was leading after the second round of ballot counting on Wednesday with 55% of voters in support.
If it passes, Measure 1 will replace a minimum wage policy recently adopted by the Burien City Council with a new version that increases the number of businesses required to pay a full minimum wage.
The City Council’s law raised the wage floor to $21.16 when it went into effect at the start of this year. But initiative supporters argued that the city’s law didn’t represent a true wage increase because it came with a number of exceptions that allowed some businesses to continue paying less — for instance, those with small staffs and ones where employees get tips.
Measure 1 would remove many of those exemptions. It would also tie Burien’s minimum wage to that of the neighboring jurisdiction of Tukwila, where the wage cap is currently $21.10 and set to increase with inflation.
“It just means that more people in our community are going to make a better living wage,” Jennifer Fichamba, a Burien resident who helped lead the Measure 1 campaign, said in an interview last week.
The initiative to get Measure 1 on the ballot was led by the Transit Riders Union, a progressive advocacy group that in recent years has led successful campaigns to raise the wage floor in nearby jurisdictions like SeaTac and Tukwila. Many business owners opposed the initiative, supporting the City Council’s law and arguing that the exemptions were necessary to protect small employers.
The City Council’s law allows businesses to count an employee’s tips and benefits toward an employee’s total wage. It also allows businesses with fewer than 20 employees working within King County to continue paying a wage as low as the state’s $16.66 minimum.
Measure 1 will remove the carveout for tips and benefits. It will also change how business sizes are calculated: “Small” businesses with fewer than 15 employees total (not just in King County) will pay $18.10 an hour, and “medium” businesses with 15 to 499 employees will pay $19.10 an hour. Businesses with more than 500 employees will pay the full $21.10. There will be a gradual phase-in; by 2031, businesses of all sizes in Burien will be held to the same wage standard.
Measure 1 would also expand an employee’s right to take private legal action if they believe their employer isn’t compliant, and create a new rule that says businesses have to offer available hours to existing employees before hiring new ones.
The idea of raising the wage may also be a topic in Olympia this year. A group of House Democrats are backing House Bill 1764, which would raise the state’s minimum wage by $1.50 each year until it reaches $25 by the start of 2031.
