We expect to qualify for the February 2025 special election ballot.

If voters approve our measure in February, it will go into effect around the beginning of April 2025. The minimum wage for large businesses (with over 500 employees worldwide) will rise to match Tukwila, Renton, and White Center. Currently the minimum wage in these jurisdictions is $20.29, but there will be an inflation adjustment on Jan. 1, so we don’t yet know exactly what the 2025 wage will be. 

For medium-size employers (15-500 employees worldwide) the starting wage will be $2 lower, and for small employers (fewer than 15 employees) it will be $3 lower. These rates will gradually step up until they match the large employer rate in 2027 and 2031, respectively.

We all know that everything has been getting more expensive, from housing costs to gas to rent. If you work a full time job you should be able to pay the rent, right? Unfortunately, for many working families that’s not true. Here’s how far minimum wage workers in our community are from earning a living wage:

According to the 2024 National Low Income Housing Coalition’s Out of Reach data, an employee making Washington’s minimum wage of $16.28 per hour would have to work 107 hours each week to afford a typical one-bedroom apartment in King County without spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent. 

According to MIT’s Living Wage calculator, a living wage in King County is over $30 an hour for a single adult, and over $50 an hour for a single adult with one child.

Raising Burien’s minimum wage to over $20 an hour will not mean that everyone’s earning a living wage, but it will be a huge step forward that will improve the quality of life for working families in our community.

SeaTac and Seattle raised their minimum wages years ago, Tukwila raised its minimum wage in 2023, and Renton followed just this year. The vast majority of businesses, including small businesses, have been able to adjust, and some businesses with concerns about raising the minimum wage ended up expanding. When people can afford to live and relax in the cities they work, that spending circulates locally. A recent study from the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment found that raising the minimum wage causes "large, significant positive employment effects” – in other words, it actually creates jobs.

The Burien City Council passed Ordinance No. 837 on March 18, 2024. Unfortunately, this law is so full of loopholes and carve-outs that it’s unlikely to benefit many workers at all.

Our community-labor coalition spent last year urging the council to pass a strong minimum wage law to bring Burien up to the standards of its neighboring cities. Hundreds of Burien residents and workers signed a petition and testified at council meetings. Unfortunately, some councilmembers caved in to business interests and passed a much weaker law, with problems that include:

• Low-wage workers who receive tips or benefits would be excluded from getting a raise.

• Entirely excludes workers at businesses with up to 20 full-time-equivalent employees.

• Instead of about $4 above the statewide minimum wage, as in neighboring cities, it only raises wages to $2 or $3 above for “medium” and “large” businesses.

• Absurdly defines “large” businesses as having 500 full-time-equivalent employees in King County, so even many multinational corporations will be classified as medium or small.

• Creates an inconsistent and complicated standard that’s impossible to enforce. The city has no idea what wage any given employer should pay, so workers will have to trust their bosses’ word about what wage they are owed.

The council’s legislation is so weak, it was supported by business groups and opposed by labor and community organizations. We can’t let this bad example be set for other cities, so we’re running a ballot initiative to replace it with a strong minimum wage law. Read more about the council’s ordinance and why we’re taking this issue to the ballot box here.

Raise the Wage Burien is a broad coalition with support from thousands of Burien residents and workers, community organizations, labor unions, community leaders and elected officials. The Transit Riders Union is helping to coordinate the campaign. TRU is a democratic organization of working and poor people in King County – you can join us to support our work!

This is a grassroots effort powered by people just like you. Raise the Wage Burien accepts donations from both organizations and individuals. You can make a donation here.