February 10, 2017
For immediate release
For more information: Elliott Bronstein, 206.684.4507, elliott.bronstein@seattle.gov
Office of Labor Standards announces recipients of $3 million Community Fund to support Seattle workers
SEATTLE (February 10, 2017) – The Seattle Office of Labor Standards (OLS) today announced the awarding of $3,267,512 in funding over two years for organizations to provide outreach, education and technical assistance to Seattle’s workers about their rights under Seattle’s Minimum Wage, Wage Theft, Paid Sick and Safe Time, Fair Chance Employment and Secure Scheduling Ordinances, as well as the Hotel Employees Health and Safety Initiative.
OLS has selected 7 different organizations and community partnerships to receive funding for the Community Outreach and Education Fund in 2017-2019. Organization activities will include door-to-door outreach, hosting community-based education events, training workers and other community organizations about Seattle’s labor standards, and providing labor rights intake, counseling, complaint resolution and referral for workers experiencing labor standards violations. Each organization and partnership will emphasize reaching out to low-wage working communities who disproportionately experience workplace violations.
“This new round of community partnerships will ensure continued education for workers to receive the wages and benefits they deserve and to understand their rights,” said Seattle Mayor Ed Murray. “A key part of our outreach efforts will focus on immigrant communities and communities of color, because they remain most at risk for wage theft and other abuses, and may not be well served by traditional news sources.”
The organizations who will receive funding, spread across two years, include:
- Latino Community Collaborative: $518,443
- Casa Latina (lead)
- Entre Hermanos
- South Park Information Resource Center (SPIARC)
- Washington Wage Claim Project
Communities of Focus: Latino, LGBTQ, women, low-wage workers
- Chinese Information Services Center: $156,035
Communities of Focus: Asian Pacific Islanders, Chinese, and other Asian workers
- El Centro de la Raza: $139,432
Communities of Focus: Latino workers
- Eritrean Association of Greater Seattle (lead): $197,510
- West African Community Council
Communities of Focus: East African and West African workers
- Fair Work Collaborative: $2,151,819
- Fair Work Center (lead)
- 21 Progress
- Al Noor Islamic Community Center
- API Chaya
- Bayan PNW
- Got Green
- Latino Community Fund
- LGBTQ Allyship
- Partner in Employment
- Restaurant Opportunity Center of Seattle
- Somali Community Services
Communities of Focus: Low wage workers, young workers of color, East African, South Asian, Asian and Pacific Islander, African American, Filipino, Latino, LGBTQ, immigrants and refugees, survivors of violence, and restaurant workers
- Millionair Charity Club: $58,513
Communities of Focus: Workers with criminal backgrounds and temporary workers
- NAACP: $45,760
Communities of Focus: African American workers
“Through these partnerships, we will strengthen our reach and impact on Seattle’s worker communities, and especially those workers most likely to experience labor standards violations, including workers of color, immigrant and refugee workers, female workers, LGBTQ workers, workers with disabilities, and youth,” said OLS Director Dylan Orr. “We are very excited to collaborate with our community partners for the next two years to uphold Seattle’s labor standards and promote a culture of compliance in Seattle.”
For more information about the Office of Labor Standards or the Community Outreach and Education Fund, call 206-684-4500 or visit http://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards