Tukwila workers will see a big bump on their next paychecks

Tukwila will soon join Seattle and SeaTac in raising its minimum wage. Beginning Saturday, July 1, thousands of workers will earn just under $19 dollars an hour.

Last fall, Tukwila voters approved an initiative to raise the minimum wage by more than $3 in the city.

“That will certainly help,” said Katie Wilson of the Transit Riders Union, one of groups that helped campaign for the raise. “But it’s also definitely not enough to make it comfortable to live in this county.”

Still, for thousands of workers, it will be a significant raise. For businesses with more than 500 employees, the new minimum wage will be $18.99.

Smaller businesses with fewer than 500 workers will have a couple of years to phase in the new wage. Wilson says the new law would also require employers to offer additional hours to existing part time workers before hiring new employees.

“This is basically designed to try to allow people to get full time work or closer to full time work if they want full time work.”

The Transit Riders Union is part of a coalition petitioning the City of Burien to raise the minimum wage. Organizers in Renton are collecting signatures to put a similar measure in the November ballot.