NEWS GLEAMS | Mixed Reactions From King County Council on Closure of Youth Jail; Starbucks to Bargain With Union

A roundup of news and announcements we don't want to get lost in the fast-churning news cycle.

by Vee Hua 華婷婷

Mixed Reactions From King County Council Around Proposed 2028 Closure of Youth Jail

On March 27, King County Executive Dow Constantine passed the final report for his plan to close the youth detention center, the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center, to the King County Council's Law and Justice Committee, which serves as an advisory group on the closure. The advisory group reported that it received 1,800 comments from community members but requires more time to assess the best path forward.

Following "No New Youth Jail" protests from community members in 2020, Constantine committed to shutting down the youth detention center by 2025. In February 2024, that date was delayed to 2028. Under his Care & Closure initiative, Constantine proposed six community-based solutions that would help ultimately end traditional youth detention in King County, including the creation of "a network of community care homes where youth would stay while their court case proceeds if they are unable to go home because of safety concerns," and "a 24/7 respite and receiving center that all youth under 18 years old would be taken upon arrest."

During a hybrid virtual and in-person meeting, the King County Council's advisory committee and its presenters provided mixed reactions to the closure of the youth detention center. Ben Santos, a King County juvenile prosecutor, shared that juvenile crimes are on the rise within the recent two years following COVID-19 pandemic closures — even though youth detention numbers have fallen overall over the past decade.

"The detention facility is one of those tools that we have to use sometimes because of the circumstances of a case," Ketu Shah, presiding King County Superior Court Judge, stated in an interview to KING 5. "We don't use that tool lightly. It is one of the tools we use as a last resort."

King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski, for instance, brought up two separate recent gun death homicides of 16-year-olds in his district. Both youths were found along I-5 and discovered by Washington State Patrol; following interviews with the victim's families, their deaths were determined to be connected.

Despite pushback from the committee, however, Constantine stated just last month, "Study after study shows that youth incarceration is a system that does not work. The profound racial disparities in the youth criminal legal system are a result of racist realities embedded in many systems, from health care to educational to economic, as well as the legal system itself. If we want a different future, we must affirmatively choose to do better. That will require new systems, spaces, practices, and the collaboration of our entire community," he said last week.

Constantine did not attend the committee meeting but released a similar statement afterward that called for better outcomes for young people and true public safety that produces more positive outcomes.

The Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center currently holds an average of 43 youth daily. According to a press release from King County, "The CCFJC opened in 2020 and cost $242 million. It was intended to be a more rehabilitative approach to juvenile justice, containing modern classrooms, a library, a gym and a medical clinic all within the same building as community services and juvenile courtrooms."

Washington State Passes Broad Protections for Adult Entertainment Industry Workers

Last week, Washington State Senate Bill 6105 — which has colloquially become known as the "Strippers' Bill of Rights" — was signed into law, providing more comprehensive statewide protections for such workers in the adult entertainment industry.

Significantly, the bill will allow strip clubs to be able to obtain liquor licenses and sell alcohol, which advocates say will help bring in broader audiences, as Washington State was previously the only state in the country with a complete alcohol ban in the establishments. Ability for businesses to attain the liquor licenses will be based on their ability to comply with new safety regulations, which will include trainings for workers to help prevent sexual harassment, de-escalate conflict, provide first aid, and identify or report human trafficking.

The law also requires that security workers must be hired on set, that panic buttons be installed in places where entertainers may interact privately with customers, and that dressing rooms have keypad codes. It also caps the percentage of fees establishments can charge dancers to perform on their stages, which dancers have reported were higher in Washington State than in other states, in part because of their need to earn more money in lieu of the club's lack of alcohol sales.

While he was signing the bill, Gov. Jay Inslee said, "It's pretty simple why we're passing this bill. These are working folks, and working people deserve safety in the environment in which they work."

"Strippers are workers, and they should be given the same rights and protections as any other labor force," Seattle Sen. Rebecca Saldaa said in a press release. "If they are employed at a legal establishment in Washington, they deserve the safeguards that every worker is entitled to, including protection from exploitation, trafficking, and abuse."

Starbucks Agrees to Bargain With Union Stores Nationwide

In late April, Starbucks will engage in discussions with workers from its 400 unionized stores. During the initial conversations, it will create principles for a labor accord, which will help create a framework for future negotiations with Starbucks Workers United, the union that represents the over 10,000 participating employees. Each union will send its own delegates, as appropriate, with the final number of delegates still to be determined.

Currently, the union's list of bargaining demands includes higher wages, including a base wage of at least $20 an hour for baristas; more affordable health care; increases in healthy leave rights; and guaranteed, consistent schedules.

These would be the first union-related conversations Starbucks has actively held with Starbucks Workers United. As the South Seattle Emeraldfirst reported in 2022, Starbucks had asked the National Labor Relations Board to temporarily suspend union elections at all 314 of its U.S. stores, in stark opposition to unionization efforts. At the time, strike organizers believed store closures and election suspensions were acts of retaliation for worker unionization efforts. At the time, Starbucks Workers United reported that over 200 Starbucks stores had been unionized, with over 10,600 supporters.

📸 Featured Image: The Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center currently holds an average of 43 youth daily. (Photo: Susan Fried)

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