Burien’s New Minimum Wage Law is Threatened with Replacement by Initiative Tied to the City of Tukwila
On March 18, 2024, the Burien City Council adopted a Minimum Wage Ordinance (BMC 5.15) establishing a citywide minimum wage effective January 1, 2025. The council-adopted minimum wage is among the highest in the nation and will increase annually based on a cost-of-living adjustment.
The Burien City Council adopted this minimum wage ordinance after extensive engagement with community members, workers, and local businesses, as well as recommendations from Burien’s Business and Economic Development Partnership advisory body. Following a number of council meetings during which employers and employees shared their insights and concerns, the City of Burien amended its drafts and arrived at Burien’s new and yet-to-be-utilized ordinance. The City delayed the effective date to January 1, 2025, to ensure that employers and employees had a reasonable opportunity to prepare. The City weighed the concerns of helping hourly employees earn a fairer minimum wage, providing them with meaningful but fair remedies, with the need to protect Burien’s businesses, especially small ones struggling to succeed, and keep jobs and businesses in Burien. Following community and business feedback, employers with 20 or fewer full-time equivalents (FTEs) were exempted from the ordinance due to concerns that it would create a significant hardship for those small employers.
The City of Burien was one of the few cities in Washington to pass a higher local minimum wage through council action. By adopting its minimum wage ordinance, Burien’s city council and, by extension, its residents, employees, and employers, maintain control over the minimum wage and its impacts on the City, hourly workers in Burien, and Burien businesses.
On August 12, 2024, before Burien’s adopted minimum wage ordinance could take effect, the Transit Riders Union submitted a replacement for Burien’s new and yet-to-be-utilized ordinance. The initiative ordinance would require each “large employer must pay each employee an hourly wage of not less than the ‘large employer minimum wage rate’ in effect in the City of Tukwila pursuant to Tukwila Municipal Code Section 5.63.” Medium-sized employers are phased in by paying two dollars an hour less than Tukwila’s large employer minimum wage the first year, one dollar less the second year, and then the same amount as the large employers beginning in the third year. Small-sized employers would pay three dollars less than Tukwila’s large employers, with fifty-cent increases annually until the minimum wage matches large employer minimum wages. Again, the initiative ordinance offers no exemptions for small businesses, including multigenerational, immigrant, and minority-owned businesses in the initiative ordinance.
The fact that Burien’s minimum wage would be tied to decisions in Tukwila could be a problem. 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.”
Additionally, the Initiative website (raisethewageburien.org) has misleadingly depicted the minimum wages of Burien, SeaTac, Seattle, Tukwila, and Renton. The website states that in 2024 Burien’s minimum wage is $16.28 without mentioning that in 2025, the minimum wage in Burien increases to $3.00 above the state minimum for large businesses and $2.00 above the state minimum wage for medium-sized businesses.
The City of Burien’s adopted minimum wage is comparable to those of the cities mentioned and more than the large number of other cities that have not adopted a local minimum wage ordinance. Another important detail is that Tukwila and Renton have exemptions to the minimum wage law that the initiative ordinance does not have. SeaTac’s ordinance is limited to hospitality and transportation businesses. Tukwila and Renton have minimum wage ordinances with small business exemptions similar to Burien’s existing minimum wage exemption for small employers.
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.
Additionally, some other jurisdictions including Tukwila and Renton, have adopted minimum wage ordinances with exemptions for small employers, similar to Burien’s ordinance. The Transit Riders Union’s initiative ordinance does not permit Burien to keep its exemption protecting small businesses. SeaTac’s minimum wage only covers hospitality and transportation businesses.
Significant differences between the existing and initiative ordinance are:
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Burien
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Transit Riders Union’s Initiative Ordinance
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Burien and its residents control Burien’s minimum wage
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Tukwila controls Burien’s minimum wage
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Burien has a minimum wage law
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The Initiative fails to acknowledge that Burien adopted an ordinance that will take effect before the vote for this initiative ordinance occurs
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Exempts employers with less than 20 Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs) to protect Burien’s small businesses and keep jobs in Burien
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No exemption, but does have a 7-year phase-in with fifty-cent increases annually
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Addresses wage theft (BMC 5.15.250)
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Does not address wage theft
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The City of Burien has acknowledged receipt of the petition, and signatures will be reviewed before official confirmation. The election deadline for this petition will follow the schedule set by King County Elections Division.
Burien’s minimum wage will still take effect on January 1, 2025, and the Transit Riders Union’s replacement petition ordinance will be subject to vote on February 11, 2025.
More information, including resources in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Amharic, Korean, and Chinese, can be found at burienwa.gov/MinimumWage.
UPDATE (September 3, 2024): On August 30, 2024, King County Elections informed the City of Burien that of the 6,135 signatures submitted, only 3,533 were valid. The Transit Riders Union has until September 9, 2024, to submit an amended petition.
Burien’s minimum wage ordinance will still take effect on January 1, 2025, and if the Transit Riders Union’s replacement petition ordinance is valid, the public would vote on the petition ordinance at a Special Election on February 11, 2025. Please see burienwa.gov/MinimumWage for more information.