[TRU Research] Research project for 2023 minimum wage campaigns

Mon Apr 24 21:16:58 PDT 2023

Oh and I meant to mention— one obvious strategy would be to see if there’s some list of all such businesses on King County’s website. But unfortunately it looks like only a narrow range of businesses <https://kingcounty.gov/services/business/licenses.aspx> actually have to get a license from the county to operated in unincorporated areas, so the county gov't likely doesn’t have a master list or regular contact with all businesses in its jurisdiction. That said, I do know that Burien Councilmember Hugo Garcia’s day job is in “economic development” with King County, so I could probably ask him for some leads and he may have ideas of where the businesses are… I’ll try to remember to do that this week.

> On Apr 24, 2023, at 9:13 PM, Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> One more research idea has come up in the context of our efforts in unincorporated King County <https://kingcounty.gov/~/media/depts/local-services/community-service-areas/map-all-areas-detail.ashx?la=en>. We’ve been able to get some data from ESD on employment in several of the more urban areas (which I’m happy to share if you’re interested): White Center, Skyway, and Vashon. But we’re interested in identifying other unincorporated areas where there may be employment clusters, even pretty small ones. For example, one possible candidate is Renton Highlands <https://visitrentonwa.com/plan-your-trip/highlands/>— you can scroll down to see a list of businesses identified, mostly smaller but including a Grocery Outlet… I’m not totally sure if these are in unincorporated areas v. Renton proper, but a little map work might be able to discover that. 
> 
> If any of you are interested in looking into this, speak up & I’m happy to help think through strategies!
> 
> Katie
> 
>> On Feb 7, 2023, at 9:52 AM, Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Good thinking, thank you Stephen! Artie and I can share this with the Raise the Wage Renton team and discuss doing some outreach to hotel workers at these locations.
>> 
>>> On Feb 7, 2023, at 9:26 AM, Stephen DeSanto <rachidian at gmail.com <mailto:rachidian at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> On a quick survey of the map of Renton <https://maps.rentonwa.gov/Html5viewer/Index.html?viewer=cormaps>, I noticed that W Valley Highway runs parallel to the Renton border in Tukwila (near Southcenter), and a parallel street across the border in Renton. There are probably many examples of similar businesses between the two, separated by less than a mile. (Not quite 'across the street' but there's not much in-between but industrial parks). For example, hotels:
>>> 
>>> - Hampton Inn Seattle/Southcenter: 7200 S 156th St, Tukwila, WA 98188
>>> - Residence Inn by Marriott Seattle South/Tukwila: 16201 W Valley Hwy, Tukwila, WA 98188
>>> - Courtyard by Marriott Seattle Sea-Tac Area: 16038 W Valley Hwy, Tukwila, WA 98188
>>> - Hilton Garden Inn Seattle/Renton: 1801 E Valley Rd, Renton, WA 98057
>>> - Larkspur Landing Renton: 1701 E Valley Rd, Renton, WA 98057
>>> 
>>> Tukwila and Renton are separated by only one exit on I-405, so there are likely to be many more comparisons that can be made between them.
>>> 
>>> I'll keep looking for closer connections.
>>> 
>>> On Sun, Jan 29, 2023 at 9:33 AM Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org <mailto:katie at transitriders.org>> wrote:
>>>> Just found this, the maps under the “West King County” section are probably useful! https://kingcounty.gov/depts/local-services/programs/community-service-areas.aspx
>>>> 
>>>>> On Jan 28, 2023, at 1:45 PM, Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org <mailto:katie at transitriders.org>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Hi All,
>>>>> 
>>>>> As you may know, TRU is hoping to work on several minimum wage campaigns this year: supporting the ballot initiative in Renton, and trying to move minimum wage laws through council in Burien, King County Council (for unincorporated King County), and SeaTac (to expand the law to apply to more industries and workers).
>>>>> 
>>>>> During the Tukwila campaign, it was extremely useful to have the example of rental car companies operating on two sides of the street— one in Tukwila and one in SeaTac— paying their workers different wages for the same work.
>>>>> 
>>>>> For these new campaigns, it would great to have some examples like this. So the goal of this research project would be to find similar businesses nearby but in different jurisdictions, where one jurisdiction has already raised its minimum wage (Seattle/SeaTac/Tukwila) and the other is one of our targets (Renton/Burien/unincorporated KC). For example, someone mentioned to me that there’s a Bartell Drugs and a Walgreens on either side of Roxbury, one in Seattle and the other in White Center. (See attached images.)
>>>>> 
>>>>> And there would be an additional SeaTac-specific project of trying to get a better understanding of what businesses & workers are not covered by SeaTac’s minimum wage law. I’m attaching some data I got from an ESD economist about that; if anyone’s interested in pursuing this we should probably chat first so I can tell you what I know.
>>>>> 
>>>>> What do you think, anyone interested in working on this stuff? (Also, if you’d like to be taken off this group at any point, just let me know.)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Thanks all!!!
>>>>> Katie
>>>>> 
>>>>> <SeaTac 2022 Q1 Gap.xlsx>
>>>>> <Screen Shot 2023-01-28 at 1.24.49 PM.png>
>>>>> <Screen Shot 2023-01-28 at 1.25.03 PM.png>
>>>>> 
>>>>> Katie Wilson
>>>>> General Secretary
>>>>> Transit Riders Union
>>>>> https://transitriders.org <https://transitriders.org/>
>>>>> 206-781-7204
>>>>> 
>>>>> The Transit Riders Union is a democratic organization of working and poor people, including students, seniors, and people with disabilities, taking control over our own lives, and building up the power we need to change society for the good of humanity and of the planet. We will fight to preserve, expand, and improve the public transportation system in Seattle and beyond, so that every human being has access to safe, affordable, and reliable public transit.
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>> 
>> 
> 
> 

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