BURIEN, Wash. — According to those advocating the change, thousands of Burien voters have signed a petition to amend a new minimum wage ordinance they believe does not go far enough.
The city will see its minimum wage increase by $3 above the state minimum wage in January.
“I hope it sends a message that we want workers to be able to live here,” said Hugo Garcia, Burien city council member.
Garcia said he has the backing of 6,000 Burien residents, in the form of signatures, signing off on an across-the-board wage increase for all workers.
Those advocating for this wage increase said it will make Burien competitive with Tukwila and SeaTac - nearby cities with minimum wage hovering around $20 per hour.
“And that’s causing folks to go elsewhere for work that’s next door and there going to get jobs somewhere else further away from here and that is what’s going to lead to displacement,” Garcia said.
In March the Burien council agreed to tack on $3 to the state minimum wage of $16.28 per hour. Those opposed said the ordinance excludes many small businesses and includes tips toward that hourly total.
“I hope it sends a message that we want workers to be able to live here,” Garcia said.
Not all follow his logic. Longtime server Shawna Pike started working at 18 – earning about $10 an hour. She said when base pay goes up prices do too and her tips go down.
“That people won’t tip," Pike said. "That everything will stay the same for us money-wise, we’ll be working more but we won’t be getting tips for it. We’ll be trying to work more just to get what we’re making now."
Her boss and restaurant owner David Meinert of Huckleberry Square Restaurant said he supported March’s wage increase but believes the voter initiative goes too far.
“With the inflation that we’ve already seen this year – the increase in minimum wage, that happens annually already – raising prices another ten to fifteen percent I think is undoable for the consumer,” Meinert said.
In a way – it’s the customers that will have the final say.
Should the signatures be accepted the next step is to put the wage increase on February ballot for the voters to decide.