The council-adopted minimum wage is among the highest in the nation” and “The City of Burien’s adopted minimum wage is comparable to those of the cities mentioned” (namely SeaTac, Seattle, Tukwila, and Renton)

 Burien’s minimum wage law (if it can even be called that – see below re “total compensation”) is far weaker than those of all other King County cities that have adopted local minimum wage standards. First, instead of about $4 above the statewide minimum wage as in these other cities, it only raises wages to $2 or $3 above for certain employers.

Second, because Burien’s ordinance defines “Level 1” (large) and “Level 2” (medium) employers based on employment in King County, huge corporations may easily be classified as medium or small. For example, a multinational corporation with 500 or fewer FTEs in King County would be considered a mid-sized business and only required to pay $2 above the statewide minimum wage. If it has 20 or fewer FTEs, it would be exempt.

Third, unlike all the other local minimum wage ordinances, Burien’s classifies franchises according to the size of the franchisee rather than the network, so they will be treated as medium or small (exempted) employers rather than large employer.

Fourth, Burien’s ordinance does not actually set a minimum wage rate at all, it sets a minimum rate of “total compensation,” meaning that tips, healthcare and other benefits count against a worker’s wage. Unlike workers in Tukwila and Renton, tipped workers in Burien are unlikely to see any wage increase, and neither are workers at Safeway, PCC, Fred Meyer, etc. who receive some benefits.

It’s hard to think of any employer in Burien that would clearly have to pay a minimum wage $3 above the statewide minimum wage under the council’s ordinance. This is in stark contrast to every other jurisdiction in King County that has passed a minimum wage law. 

 "Based on initiative law, if the initiative ordinance passes, Burien voters who wanted to untie Burien from decisions made in the City of Tukwila would need to go to Tukwila City Council Meetings and argue for changes or have another ballot measure in Burien because an ordinance initiated by petition ‘cannot be repealed or amended except by a vote of the people.’”

 It simply uses Tukwila's rate of pay as the starting point or baseline. The Initiative states, "Starting 30 days after the effective date, and through the end of the calendar year, every large employer must pay each employee an hourly wage not less than the large employer minimum wage rate in effect in the City of Tukwila… On each January 1 thereafter, the hourly minimum wage must increase by the annual rate of inflation to maintain employee purchasing power." If the City of Tukwila were to amend its minimum wage law at some future time, this would have no effect on Burien’s minimum wage.

“Tukwila and Renton have minimum wage ordinances with small business exemptions similar to Burien’s existing minimum wage exemption for small employers.”

Burien’s ordinance exempts employers with 20 or fewer FTEs. Tukwila’s and Renton’s laws exempt employers with fewer than 15 employees worldwide and less than $2 million in gross revenue (both conditions must be fulfilled). Note that this is employees, not FTEs. A business with 20 FTEs may, for example, have 40 or more employees if all of them work part time. Burien’s law thus exempts far more employers (and thereby excludes far more workers) than Tukwila’s or Renton’s. Also, note that the minimum wage law passed in 2023 for unincorporated King County, including White Center, does not have any exemption for small businesses. Like our initiative, it simply includes a longer phase-in.

Furthermore, because how the Burien ordinance defines the employer tiers, many other employers that would be classified as medium or large under Tukwila’s and Renton’s laws will likely be counted as “small” and exempted. This includes franchises, which are classified according to the size of the franchise network in all other cities’ ordinances, but according to the size of the franchisee in Burien’s law. It may also include huge multinational corporations with only one or two locations in King County, since Burien’s law nonsensically defines a “Level 2 employer” as “all employers … that employ 21 – 499 FTEs in King County.”

“Burien’s economic base largely consists of small businesses and is different from cities (SeaTac, Seattle, Renton, and Tukwila) that are home to sports teams, or have airports, hotels, and regional or larger shopping malls or stores.”

If anything, the fact that Burien is home to many small businesses makes it even more important that Burien’s minimum wage law cover businesses of all sizes. Otherwise, a large part of Burien’s low-wage workforce will be excluded from earning a living wage.

Furthermore, unincorporated King County, including White Center, Skyway, and Vashon Island, will soon be covered by a minimum wage ordinance very similar to the one proposed in our initiative. Unincorporated King County is also not home to large shopping malls, airports, etc. 

The bottom line is that all workers need and deserve a living wage. Whether they live or work in Burien, White Center, SeaTac, Tukwila, Renton, or Seattle, the cost of living in our region is extremely high, especially housing costs. A full-time worker should be able to afford to rent a modest apartment and buy groceries without depending on public assistance.  

Burien’s table listing “Significant differences between the existing and initiative ordinance” states that the council’s ordinance addresses wage theft  (BMC 5.15.250) while our initiative does not.

On the contrary, Section 8 of the initiative provides a whole range of wage theft enforcement remedies including, but not limited to, a private right of action through a civil action, and the authority of the City to issue administrative citations and to order injunctive relief including reinstitution, payment of back wages, or other forms of relief.