NEWS GLEAMS | City Council Passes Permanent Paid Sick and Safe Time for Gig Workers
A roundup of news and announcements we don't want to get lost in the fast-churning news cycle!
curated by Vee Hua 華婷婷
✨Gleaming This Week✨
Seattle City Council Passes Permanent Paid Sick and Safe Time for Gig Workers
Building off of legislation passed nearly a year ago to ensure a guaranteed minimum wage and sick leave benefits for app-based workers, the Seattle City Council passed Council Bill 120514, in a unanimous 9-0 vote on Tuesday afternoon. The bill was a joint effort by Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda and Mayor Bruce Harrell, which makes Seattle the first in the country to make permanent paid sick and safe time (PSST) benefits for gig workers. It also expands PSST to app-based workers who were not covered under the previous bill.
Gig workers are generally those defined as those who may earn income outside of standard employer and employee relationships. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, they are typically independent contractors or freelancers — often doing short-term work, or work that is project-based, hourly, part-time, or through contract and temporary positions.
According to a press release from the City of Seattle, "The bill applies to companies with 250 or more app-based workers worldwide … Under the new law, workers will accrue one day of sick leave for every 30 days worked on the app that includes stops in Seattle. While taking leave, workers' pay is based on their average daily compensation, and time can be used in day-long increments."
The companies which are affected by the legislation are also expected to create "accessible systems so that app-based workers can check and request to use their Paid Sick and Safe Time."
The law goes into effect on May 1, 2023, for food delivery companies. Other app-based workers covered under this legislation will receive PSST benefits starting January 13, 2024.
Poet Claudia Castro-Luna Hosts Bilingual Events at Seattle Public Library
Award-winning poet and former Washington State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro-Luna will be hosting and guest-curating a bilingual series of interdisciplinary events in Spanish and English, which focus "cultural practices around creativity." All events are free, though registration is required. The series celebrates its first event, "Creativity Everyday / Creatividad Cotidiana," at the Central Library on Thursday, March 30. One of its events will also be hosted at the South Park branch of The Seattle Public Library (SPL).
"As we emerge from the pandemic, I've been thinking about how we nourish our creativity. It's so important to our health and well-being," Castro Luna said via SPL's press release. "I've designed this series so that everyone who participates will walk away with something — an understanding, a new tool, a discovery about yourself, a dance."
Events in the series are as follows:
Thursday, March 30 — 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m
Centra Library, Level 4, Room 1
A roundtable discussion with Claudia Castro-Luna about creative practices and the role that culture and language plays. Featuring Afro-Latina dancer Milvia Pacheco, author Maria de Lourdes Victoria, and artist Adriana Morales, the event will feature a discussion and a dance/movement lesson focused on a Caribbean rhythms.
Sunday, April 16 — 6:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
South Park Branch (8604 8th Ave. S)
A film screening centered on the Afro-Latino experience, with the founder of Movimiento Afro-Latino. (Please note: The film is for adult audiences, and the screening wlil take place after the branch closes.)
Thursday, April 20 — 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Central Library, Level 4, Room 1
A poetry workshop with Claudia Castro-Luna and artist Adriana Morales, where participants will listen to poetry, as well as write and illustrate their own poems.
National Nutrition Month Offers Opportunities to Support Unionized Supermarket Brands
In honor of National Nutrition Month in March, Labor 411 has offered a shopping list of potential brands whose workers are unionized. Below is a short list of major brands belonging to unions such as International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) which operates in the United States and Canada; United Farm Workers (UFW) in the United States; and UNITE HERE 2 in San Francisco.
Vegetables
- Andy Boy (UFW)
- Birds Eye Vegetables (UFCW, IBT)
- Del Monte canned vegetables (UFCW)
- Dole (IBT, UFCW)
- Fresh Express Salads (IBT)
- Healthy Choices (UFCW)
- Monterey Mushrooms (UFW, IBT)
- Ore-Ida (IBT, UFCW)
- Overhill Farms (UFCW)
- Sunripe Brands Tomatoes (UFW, IBT)
Meats
- Always Tender Pork (UFCW, IBT)
- Appleton (UFCW)
- Berks Brand (UFCW)
- Black Forest (UFCW)
- Boar's Head (UFCW, IBT)
- Butterball (UFCW, IBT)
- Cook's (UFCW)
- Empire Kosher (UFCW)
- Farmland Bacon and Ham (UFCW)
- Foster Farms (UFCW)
- Hillshire Farm (UFCW, IBT)
- Hoffman's (UFCW)
- Honest John (UFCW)
- Hormel (UFCW, IBT)
- Kunzler (UFCW)
- Nature Raised Farms (UFCW)
- Palisades Ranch (UFCW)
- Pepe's Pork rinds (IBT)
- Rogers Poultry (UFCW)
- Smithfield (UFCW, IBT)
- Star Ranch Angus (UFCW)
- Thumann's (UFCW)
- Tyson (UFCW)
- Valley Fresh Chicken (UFCW, IBT)
- Valleydale Bacon (UFCW, IBT)
- Zwiegle's Meats (UFCW)
Soups
- Campbell (IBT)
- College Inn Soups (IBT)
- MC Soups (IBT)
- Snider Soups (IBT)
- San Francisco Soup Company (UNITE HERE, Local 2)
Union Grocery Stores
- Albertsons (UFCW)
- Giant Eagle (UFCW)
- Kroger's (UFCW)
- Ralph's (UFCW)
- Shoprite (UFCW)
- Tops (UFCW)
- Trader Joe's (UFCW; varies by location)
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Before you move on to the next story …
The South Seattle Emerald™ is brought to you by Rainmakers. Rainmakers give recurring gifts at any amount. With around 1,000 Rainmakers, the Emerald™ is truly community-driven local media. Help us keep BIPOC-led media free and accessible.
If just half of our readers signed up to give $6 a month, we wouldn’t have to fundraise for the rest of the year. Small amounts make a difference.
We cannot do this work without you. Become a Rainmaker today!
