Seattle workers are once again breaking new ground by establishing a new principle: that everyone should know when they’re going to work and how many hours they’re going to get.
By a unanimous 9-0 vote Monday afternoon, Seattle made labor history once again by passing secure scheduling — the first new labor standard to address weekly work schedules since overtime pay became law in the 1930s.
This landmark victory in Seattle is only the beginning in the fight for balanced and flexible schedules in Washington state and across the country.
When Seattle workers won access to paid sick leave in 2012 and the nation’s first citywide $15/hour law in 2014, new standards were set that everyone should be able to earn paid leave when they or family members are sick and everyone should receive a living wage for every hour they work. San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and California soon followed with $15/hour laws of their own.