While presidential elections are taking up all of the airwaves, we can’t forget the importance of local elections. This November, Initiative 124 will make its way onto Seattle voter’s ballots. We stand in support of this initiative. This initiative covers four primary issues:
+Protecting low-wage hotel workers from sexual harassment and assault
+Improving access to affordable healthcare
+Reducing workplace injury
+Increasing job security
More specifically the initiative seeks to provide panic buttons for housekeepers (who frequently experience sexual harassment or assault by hotel guests), to create a standardized response procedure for employee reports of guest-initiated harassment, to ensure that low-wage hotel employees working for large hotels will pay no more than 6% of their annual income for affordable family healthcare, to put a limit on the square footage of housekeeping workloads and to provide time and a half pay beyond that set amount. It also wants to allow workers to keep their jobs when hotel ownership or management changes.
As our city grows, we must enact laws and policies that protect the workers who are most vulnerable. We believe this initiative is a step in the right direction. Learn more about Initiative 124 here, and please remember to vote this November!