A huge national fight between the right-wing US Chamber of Commerce and local progressives is taking place in Seattle right now over living wages, which have been steadily declining for 30+ years in Seattle, and America overall.
Yesterday, hundreds of Seattle activists kicked off the campaign for a $15 minimum wage initiative to be placed on the November ballot in Seattle. In recent years, Seattle residents have seen skyrocketing rents and gentrification take place, and local wages have not kept pace.
Notorious right-wing groups like the Chamber of Commerce, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and the National Restaurant Association (amongst others..) are mounting a well funded effort to fight this progressive grassroots Seattle effort tooth and nail.
Fortunately, Seattle's minimum wage debate, which was started by these same social activists last year with the historic election of socialist Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, has caught the ear of President Obama and progressive Democrats in congress, who have made a point of raising the national minimum wage a central part of the Democratic Party's 2014 campaign.
The fight for living wages is just heating up in the Pacific Northwest, stay tuned..
https://www.15now.org/