To: Ana Mari Cauce, Interim President, Mindy Kornberg, Vice President of Human Resources, Peter Denis, Assistant Vice President of Human Resources, V'Ella Warren, Senior Vice President, Kristianne Blake, UW Regent, Jeremy Jaech, UW Regent, J...

UW: Comply with Seattle's Historic $15/hr Min Wage Ordinance

I demand that the University of Washington comply with the $15/hr Seattle minimum wage ordinance by raising the wages of 12,000 campus workers–including 8,700 student workers–who are paid less than $15/hr.

Why is this important?

On April 1, 2015, Seattle took its first step towards a $15 minimum wage by requiring all employers with over 500 workers to pay at least $11/hr. Despite being the single largest employer in Seattle, the University of Washington administration has argued that it's not obligated to pay $15/hr to campus workers. This means that over 12,000 campus workers are at risk of not receiving a much-needed wage increase – including over 8,700 student workers, who have seen UW tuition rise 82% since 2008.

Academically, UW is ranked among the best universities worldwide; unfortunately, UW is also home to an ever-growing gap between the highest-paid administrators and the lowest-paid hourly workers. Instead of increasing student fees/tuition, or cutting research funding and campus jobs, the UW can and should provide living wage jobs for ALL campus workers by redistributing funds from highly-paid administrators to the most marginalized workers on campus. If every other employer in Seattle can pay at least $15/hr, so can UW.