I demand that the University of Washington comply with the $15/hr Seattle minimum wage ordinance by raising the wages of 12,000 campus workers–including 8,700 student workers–who are paid less than $15/hr.
Why is this important?
On April 1, 2015, Seattle took its first step towards a $15 minimum wage by requiring all employers with over 500 workers to pay at least $11/hr. Despite being the single largest employer in Seattle, the University of Washington administration has argued that it's not obligated to pay $15/hr to campus workers. This means that over 12,000 campus workers are at risk of not receiving a much-needed wage increase – including over 8,700 student workers, who have seen UW tuition rise 82% since 2008.
Academically, UW is ranked among the best universities worldwide; unfortunately, UW is also home to an ever-growing gap between the highest-paid administrators and the lowest-paid hourly workers. Instead of increasing student fees/tuition, or cutting research funding and campus jobs, the UW can and should provide living wage jobs for ALL campus workers by redistributing funds from highly-paid administrators to the most marginalized workers on campus. If every other employer in Seattle can pay at least $15/hr, so can UW.
