Olympia City Council explores workplace protections for low-wage workers 

The Olympia City Council moved away from reviving the failed Workers’ Bill of Rights, instead agreeing to direct staff to focus on low-wage workers and workplace protections for the group.

Council members reviewed staff research presented at a study session at Olympia City Hall on Tuesday, Sept. 22.

Assistant City Manager Stacey Ray outlined findings on wages, housing costs, commuting patterns and approaches other cities have taken to improve worker protections. 

The research found a single adult with no children in Thurston County would need to earn more than $54,000 a year to meet the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) living-wage threshold presented to council. 

The research also showed about 30 percent of Olympia households fall below the United Way ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) threshold, which measures households that are employed but have limited financial resources. About 15 percent fall below the federal poverty line. 

Housing was another major factor. According to the research, Olympia-area renters spend more than 33 percent of their income on rent, while the cost-of-living index for Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater was about 114, compared with a national average of 100. 

Ray also reported that roughly 59,000 people work in Olympia, but only about 8,200 both live and work in the city. Of those resident workers, about 2,700 earn less than $3,333 per month. 

The research showed lower-wage jobs are concentrated in occupations, such as food service, retail, sales, transportation and administrative support. 

Low-wage workers 

Council member Paul Berendt put an emphasis on low-wage workers.

“We have got to do whatever we can for the very poorest workers in the community," he said.

Berendt said the focus should be on what can be done within Olympia, while recognizing worker-protection policies can have regional effects. 

Council member Robert Vanderpool said the focus should include workers  who may earn above the federal poverty line but still struggle with costs, such as child care. 

He said the city should look beyond wages and examine benefits and other employment supports, particularly for workers who are not represented by unions or covered by collective bargaining agreements. 

Vanderpool also wanted to understand whether people who work in Olympia but live elsewhere are doing so by choice, or because housing costs and other factors prevent them from living closer to their jobs. 

Several council members identified industries they want to see closer examination of, including health care, child care, elder care, retail, food service, grocery and nonprofit work. 

Berendt pointed to health care, saying Olympia is a regional health care center with hospitals, nursing facilities, home health care providers and group homes employing large numbers of workers. 

Council member Dani Madrone also wanted a focus on protections for workers and employment stability, which includes examining wages, benefits, scheduling, house and workplace conditions.   

Council members discussed whether future policies could be structured differently according to employer size. They raised the possibility of a tiered approach that would distinguish large employers from small- and medium-sized businesses. 

Learning from other cities 

Ray also highlighted policies adopted by other cities that could inform Olympia’s work. 

She said Seattle has protections covering gig workers and certain industries. Seattle and several other cities have also adopted predictable scheduling and rest period requirements. 

Some cities require employers to offer available hours to existing employees before hiring new workers. 

Council members showed interest in the targeted approaches, particularly predictable scheduling and industry specific protections. 

However, council members differed on how quickly staff should develop an ordinance. Madrone and Council member Kelly Green preferred first discussing examples of policies used in other cities with workers, employers and community groups. They said the feedback could help shape any future ordinance. 

The council’s discussion marked a shift from the Workers’ Bill of Rights proposal that failed to pass muster with voters in 2025. 

The initiative packaged several proposed workplace requirements under the “Workers’ Bill of Rights,” including a higher minimum wage, predictive scheduling requirements, and enhanced workplace safety measures. 

Mayor Dontae Payne said the city should avoid “regurgitation” of the failed initiative and instead focus on “targeted industry protections for low-wage workers.” 

Payne also called for clear boundaries and a defined timeline for the process, saying the city should be clear about what potential policies can and cannot be accomplished.

“If we are focusing on worker protections, or targeted industry, or low-wage workers, and that is our scope … we are not going anywhere else," he said.

City Manager Jay Burney suggested Ray and Economic Development Director Jennica Machado develop a proposed scope and return to the city council for a check-in before launching the next phase of the process.