Fighting dirty, the battle over $15 minimum wage in Seattle.

Make no mistake, several things are going to happen in the next few months.
First, we will have a deeper idea of what is happening in Seattle with the minimum wage battle.  We will know one way or the other whether they will support the $15 minimum wage or somehow defeat it, or just how much anyone cares.
We will also know how the country overall is going to feel about as word spreads.  People will begin to chime in from all over.
Third, the wheels will start turning for those in other states on how to start getting it done in their states. Conversely, others will start taking notes on how to stop it.

Seattle is beginning to unfold much as we thought it would.  The mayor and the city council launched the first volley by unanimously signing the law that would force a minimum wage to take effect on a gradually increasing scale beginning April 1 2015.  It will go from its current $9.32 to $10 or $11 based on the size of the employer.

Other organizations fired back by saying that the city council nor the mayor have the right to make a decision like that with a vote being taken on it.  An organization called Forward Seattle set up a website and a facebook page to gather signatures for a petition to take it to a vote and raise $75,000 to go towards efforts to repeal the effort.

Working Washington fired back with a vow and a call to boycott organizations and restaurants that are supporting the measure to force the vote in November.

Forward Seattle then was told that they could not force a referendum and they continued on their march to get 16, 510 signatures on the petition and the price tag they set went up another $10,000.

Many accused the organization of misleading people to get the required signatures, telling signers that they are in fact for the minimum wage increase and that the petition they were signing was just to make it official or pairing with another issue in a place that would seem to support the initiative that is already law.  Many contend that the signature gatherers are only in it for the money, telling people what they think they want to hear because they get paid by the signature at the end of the day.

Forward Seattle, as of this writing, is at about $43,000 and we are not sure how they stand with the gathering of signatures.  They had 30 days from June 3 so that leaves them with about 48
hours to get there and it does not look like it is going to get there.  It is is exhausting just to think about this roller coaster and who is doing what to whom.

There are a number of peripheral issues intertwined in the debate.   The measure only applies to Seattle but many point to the fact that SeaTac airport though in the town of Seatac, is controlled by the Port of Seattle so who has jurisdiction there is at issue.  Also, since there is a federally mandated minimum wage, many are pondering whether the mayor or city council are even able to make such a proclamation.  Should it be left to the state as a whole or to the nation as a whole to make that decision.

Though this measure effects all hourly employees, food service will likely be the hardest hit.  Some states do not even have a minimum wage  for tipped employees based on the assumption that their tips average to be at least if not more than minimum wages. Though he says that he and his restaurants should be able to handle the rise in wages, Seattle restaurateur  Tom Douglas believes that it may lead to as many as 25% of restaurants in Seattle to shut their doors and the proliferation of large chains who can readily afford the rise  Some would go even further to suggest that it would deter a lot of people from opening their own place.

This is one of the things that we are going to be keeping an eye on and talking about.  This is a battle that is going to be taking place over a number different fronts.