On August 12, the Tacoma City Council (Council) voted 7–1 to adopt Resolution #41735, establishing a 15-member Tacoma Labor Standards Task Force to examine all questions and provide recommendations related to a proposed labor initiative recently certified by the Pierce County Auditor.
In adopting the resolution, the Council made clear it had not acted within the City Charter’s 30-day deadline for placing the initiative on the ballot, citing significant questions from internal and external stakeholders on legal and policy uncertainties. That inaction prompted an immediate lawsuit filed on the same day by the initiative’s proponents—United Food and Commercial Workers Local 367, Tacoma for All, and the Tacoma Democratic Socialists of America. The lawsuit alleges the Council and a few others for unlawfully preventing a “minimum wage initiative” from appearing on Tacoma’s November ballot.
Proponents have claimed that the measures mirror policies already in effect in the Seattle area. However, the comparison is misleading. While Initiative 2 in Tacoma—and a similar proposal in Olympia—includes sweeping predictive scheduling requirements for nonprofits, social services, emergency providers, and healthcare employers, Seattle’s policy only applies to large retail and hospitality businesses.
The Washington Retail Association commends the Tacoma City Council for creating a task force that ensures a broad range of voices are represented to determine the minimum wage and labor standards. This approach offers an opportunity to advance worker protections while minimizing unintended consequences for employers, nonprofits, and the community at large.
