Local business owners spoke out at this week’s City Council meeting to oppose any plans to raise the minimum wage to $20.29 and adopt a Workers’ Bill of Rights.
But Mayor Dontae Payne began the meeting by addressing the dozens of meeting attendees. The crowd was so large, council chambers were opened to the atrium and seating was doubled. Payne had to ensure exits were cleared in case of emergency.
Payne told the crowd at this time no decision has been made about a specific minimum wage or an effective date for implementation for any sort of plan.
He said he wanted to acknowledge confusion that has arisen in part due to some of the work the city’s been doing internally. He apologized, saying the city has unintentionally caused stress and surprise in the community, in particular around an alleged date of Jan. 1 for implementation.
Payne said he wanted to cut to the chase: The city won’t be doing that.
“I just want to stress our sincere apology for any confusion, stress or surprise to our community about this process, but we here at the city have been very diligent and intentional about improving our community engagement processes,” Payne said.
He referenced the community engagement work the city has done around reimagining public safety and the capital triangle subarea plan. He said the city plans to have a much more robust conversation with residents, employees and employers about the minimum wage before any decisions are made.
The City Council is set to hear more about the proposal during a study session on Oct. 22. There will not be a public comment opportunity during that meeting.
Support for a minimum wage increase
Michael Whalen is an organizer with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 367, which represents retail, grocery and food processing workers in several counties.
Whalen told the council he wanted to address the misinformation around the Workers’ Bill of Rights and the minimum wage proposal, including a call to raise the minimum wage to $24 per hour by Jan. 1.
“That is just false, not accurate, not true, not something that’s being pushed,” he said. “Our goal is not to kill small businesses, but we really want to open up the discussion and how we work together to bring about something, not necessarily imposing something on a community.”
Whalen said the Workers’ Bill of Rights is more than just a minimum wage increase. He said it’s a workers’ package that also will create scheduling protections and safety protections.
“We want to work together and have a discussion to build in this community and have low-income workers be able to purchase quality items from these small businesses,” Whalen said.
Charlotte Crawford, a meat cutter at Safeway, said she is in favor of the Workers’ Bill of Rights. In other cities where similar legislation has been implemented, a phase-in period is included to allow small and independent businesses time to adjust to the increased minimum wage, she said.
The proposed Bill of Rights in Olympia includes a three- to six-year phase-in period for small and medium-sized businesses.
“This means that it will be large corporations, such as the grocery and retail giants, who have been raking in record profits in the last several years, who will initially be the ones putting more spending dollars into pockets of local people who engage daily with the local economy, which directly benefits the small and independent businesses of the city,” Crawford said.
She said many of her coworkers are working multiple jobs to afford rent, food and medical bills.
“We’re unable to tend to our parents, look after our children, or spend time with our loved ones because we clock out of work and open up the Instacart app to shop for others,” Crawford said. “Even with these sacrifices, we’re often teetering on homelessness, one paycheck away from eviction.”
Gina Richardson said she works for Fred Meyer and, although she makes more than minimum wage now, she knows all too well the struggles of surviving on minimum wage.
“I remember standing in lines for food boxes as a child with my mother, a single parent, trying to make ends meet,” Richardson said. “I know unfortunately that this is still the case for so many of our brothers and sisters in our communities today. I also know that it’s past time to change this, and it’s the reality.”
Jenny Valentine, a checker at Albertsons, said she supports the Bill of Rights because if business owners don’t think their workers deserve fair wages, they’re lacking empathy and common sense.
“We are human beings. We are skipping meals for our kids so that they can eat,” Valentine said. “We walk to work because we can’t afford our car repairs or even a car. We live in substandard housing or burdening relatives and friends on couches and garages. We don’t make enough to afford a home.”
Valentine said if income isn’t keeping up with inflation, then you’re not being paid a fair wage. She said underpaid employees are a burden on community services such as food banks, welfare and housing services.
“Imagine how much better your business will run if the employees don’t feel disposable,” she said. “If people earn more money, you will get more business. From janitor to CEO, everyone deserves the same respect and dignity. If you cannot afford to pay your employees enough to keep up with inflation, you don’t deserve to call yourself a good business owner.”
Against a minimum wage increase
Nicole Andres is the owner of Nicole’s Bar on Legion Way, and a partner in 1889 Steakhouse. She said her industry is fortunate enough to have tipped employees, so they already make a higher hourly wage. She supports a higher minimum wage for those who aren’t being tipped.
But she worries her bar will close the very next day if a minimum wage increase includes her industry.
“I opened a business after 25 years of bartending, I went for it on my own, and unfortunately was closed down by a pandemic,” she said. “I somehow, by the grace of this amazing community, survived that, and now am facing sleepless nights of closing my doors again.
“So once again, I just want to point out that I’m not speaking for people who work in these big grocery stores. I’m speaking for the restaurant and bar industry, which will be damaged, ultimately.”
She said she doesn’t know of a bar owner in the city whose business will survive if the minimum wage goes to more than $20 per hour.
Andy Thielen is the owner of Glacier Gun Club, and he said he was a Local 367 member for 10 years. He said he employs 30 people in Olympia, and if the Worker Bill of Rights and a higher minimum wage is adopted, he’ll be closing his doors.
Thielen said it’s discouraging to hear the talk of business owners not knowing how to run a business if they can’t afford to pay their employees upwards of $24 per hour.
“There’s no way that we can handle that big a pay raise for all of our employees,” he said. “Some make more than that. Some don’t make more than that, but this will devastate my businesses right here in downtown Olympia, and almost every bar and restaurant in town as well. We’ll be out of business. People will go to Tumwater. They’ll go to Lacey.”
Brandon Weedon is the owner and operator of Fatso’s Bar & Grill on Martin Way in Olympia, the third generation of his family to own and operate a business inside the city, he said. He questioned Mayor Payne saying an implementation date of Jan. 1 was never discussed.
Weedon said the Finance Committee discussed a fast-track approach to raising the minimum wage for Olympia only.
“During the meeting, it was stated that the members of the Finance Committee would like to have this implemented by January 1, 2025,” he said. “Also at this meeting was a conversation about the amount of the financial compensation the committee was targeting. It was a range between $20.29 an hour and $24 an hour.”
Shawna Charbonneau said as a small business owner in Olympia, she’s worried about the effect the minimum wage increase will have on her business as well as others’.
“Businesses will move to other cities adjacent to Olympia, and this will result in commercial buildings being left unoccupied, thus resulting in owners trying to sell them because they can’t rent them,” she said.
Charbonneau said minimum wage jobs aren’t meant to be jobs for a family to live on. She said they’re for those looking for part-time work, like a high school kid saving for a car or a mom who wants to do something outside the home.
“This, ultimately, is a slap to anyone who went to school that has to pay for an education they received when they could just be flipping burgers with no education,” she said. “Should this increase happen, I’ll be forced to increase my prices in order to compensate for the increase in wages and payroll taxes. With this, I will lose clients as the price will not be in their budgets anymore.”
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