A Seattle City Council committee voted against new legislation Friday to establish a rent control policy for the city. The legislation would only go into effect if Washington State repeals laws prohibiting cities from regulating rent. The legislation, sponsored by Councilmember Kshama Sawant, was voted down 2-3 by the Sustainability and Renters Rights Committee. Under...
Tag: Sawant
Councilmember Sawant and South Asian Community Leaders Introduce First-in-the-Nation Legislation To Ban Caste Discrimination
“… My office is proud to bring forward first-in-the-nation legislation for our city to ban caste-based discrimination, in solidarity with our South Asian and other immigrant community members, and all working people. With over 167,000 people from South Asia living in Washington, largely concentrated in the Greater Seattle area, the region must address caste discrimination,...
Councilmember Sawant Urges Solidarity with Seattle Public School Educators on Strike for Living Wages and Full Staffing for Special Education, Multilingual Classrooms
“If teachers are going to win their demands, they cannot put any faith in the school district or corporate politicians. They will need an all-out fight with solidarity from students, parents, socialists, and the wider labor movement…. I will donate $5,000 from my solidarity fund to the educators’ strike fund.” Councilmember Kshama Sawant (District 3,...
Councilmember Sawant’s Statement While Voting ‘NO’ on Ending the $4/hour Grocery Worker Pandemic Hazard Pay
“As the BA.5 Covid variant surges, and as inflation stretches workers’ paychecks to the breaking point, Mayor Harrell, big business, and the City Council Democrats have shamefully cut grocery workers’ wages by $4/hour. Grocery workers and all frontline workers have made incredible sacrifices during the pandemic, and they deserve a raise, not a pay cut!”...
Sawant & Activists Celebrate Victory for Seattle Abortion Rights Sanctuary Legislation
“If this legislation passes in Seattle alone, it will have a vital impact on protecting many women and LGBTQ people. However, if winning it here can help it spread to other cities and states, the impact could be truly profound. If half the states in the nation refuse to extradite people under investigation for breaking...
Councilmember Sawant Congratulates Starbucks Workers at Broadway & Denny on a Unanimous Vote to Unionize the First Seattle Store of the Company!
SEATTLE – Councilmember Kshama Sawant (District 3, Central Seattle), chair of the Sustainability and Renters’ Rights Committee, attended the union election meeting with Starbucks workers at the Broadway & Denny store, in Seattle’s District 3. Sawant released the following statement on their unanimous vote to form a union: “Congratulations to Starbucks workers in Seattle, organized as Seattle...
Councilmember Sawant Calls on Mayor Harrell to Extend COVID Emergency Eviction Moratorium
“Ending the moratorium now would send thousands to eviction court — disproportionately renters of color — and according to the Losing Home Report, almost 90% of them will become homeless.” SEATTLE – Councilmember Kshama Sawant (District 3, Central Seattle), chair of the Council’s Sustainability and Renters’ Rights Committee, sent the following letter to Mayor Bruce...
Sawant: “Rainier Court Tenant Organizing Forces Landlord, SEED, to Rescind Rent Increases in 1 of 4 Buildings” Tenants & Supporters Will March with Sawant to SEED Offices Friday to Get Demands Met in FULL for ALL Tenants
‘A landlord being forced to rescind exploitative rent increases is a huge victory, and happens only when tenants get organized with a fighting strategy and community solidarity. But we cannot be complacent. NOW is the time to keep the pressure up to win our demands in FULL for ALL tenants. Rainier Court tenants together with...
Sawant Credits ‘Our Fighting Grassroots 15 Now Movement and Union Members’ As City Minimum Wage Rises To $17.27/Hour
‘This is welcome news to tens of thousands of workers, but we are not resting one bit. We are building a struggle to win strong rent control and an increase in the Amazon tax to fund affordable housing and the Green New Deal’ SEATTLE – Councilmember Kshama Sawant (District 3, Central Seattle), chair of the Council’s Sustainability and...
Councilmember Sawant Unveils Legislation Requiring Contractors to Pay 100% of Construction Worker Parking Costs, Calls for Swift Adoption by City Council
Sawant congratulates union carpenters for ‘raising the prominence of the fully-paid-parking demand through their brave, rank-and-file-led strike,’ vows to support all construction workers in the fight for paid parking SEATTLE – Councilmember Kshama Sawant (District 3, Central Seattle), chair of the Council’s Sustainability and Renters Rights Committee, today unveiled her legislation requiring contractors in Seattle to pay for...