Councilmember Kshama Sawant (District 3, Central Seattle) released the following statement in support of Seattle’s hotel workers, as the Housing, Health, Energy and Workers’ Rights Committee will discuss four pieces of legislation today to extend protections to hotel workers.
“Congratulations to Seattle hotel workers and their union UNITE HERE 8 for today’s legislation, protecting hotel workers citywide against sexual harassment and assaults, backbreaking workloads, and requiring adequate healthcare coverage,” said Councilmember Sawant.
“Across the country, worker rights are under attack, but unions like UNITE HERE 8 are standing against those attacks. Workers and UNITE HERE 8 wrote this law as Initiative 124. They built the campaign and won the vote in November 2016, with 77% voting yes.
“As I told UNITE HERE leaders when the courts outrageously stuck down these worker protections on a technicality, I will do everything in my power to support its passage on the Council. This is a victory for the grassroots organizing of workers and their unions.”