Business group wants to stop $15 minimum wage

Marissa Luck Jul 15, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Business group wants to stop $15 minimum wage</h1>
                <h2><p>Forward Seattle, which describes itself as a grassroots business coalition, filed a charter amendment Thursday to overturn Seattle’s $15 per hour minimum wage law. Their more “business-friendly” plan is to instead raise the wage to $12.50 an hour by 2020. David Rolf, SEIU 775 President and co-chair of</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/marissaluck7-gmail-com/">Marissa Luck</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p><br><br><a href="http://www.forwardseattle.org/?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">Forward Seattle,</a> which describes itself as a grassroots business coalition, filed a charter amendment Thursday to <a href="http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/group-filing-charter-amendment-lower-15-minimum-wa/ngFJd/?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">overturn Seattle’s $15 per hour minimum wage law.</a> Their more “business-friendly” plan is to instead raise the wage to $12.50 an hour by 2020. David Rolf, SEIU 775 President and co-chair of Mayor Ed Murray's Income Inequality Advisory Committee (IIAC), responded to the proposal today. “Those of us on the IIAC who worked tirelessly for months to produce a plan that works for labor and business are deeply disappointed to see others pursuing plans that would weaken the gains for our community,” Rolf said. Forward Seattle leaders <a href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/capitolhill/2014/06/05/15-minimum-wage-forward-seattle-files-counter-amendment-to-15-wage-hike/?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">said </a>they will be working "incredibly hard" in coming weeks to gather the required signatures — 30,957, according to the City Clerk's Office — to get their measure before voters. — J.B.</p>
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Forward Seattle, which describes itself as a grassroots business coalition, filed a charter amendment Thursday to overturn Seattle’s $15 per hour minimum wage law. Their more “business-friendly” plan is to instead raise the wage to $12.50 an hour by 2020. David Rolf, SEIU 775 President and co-chair of Mayor Ed Murray's Income Inequality Advisory Committee (IIAC), responded to the proposal today. “Those of us on the IIAC who worked tirelessly for months to produce a plan that works for labor and business are deeply disappointed to see others pursuing plans that would weaken the gains for our community,” Rolf said. Forward Seattle leaders said they will be working "incredibly hard" in coming weeks to gather the required signatures — 30,957, according to the City Clerk's Office — to get their measure before voters. — J.B.

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By Marissa Luck

Marissa Luck is a Tacoma-based writer and editorial intern at Crosscut. She has previously reported on issues of activism, homelessness, and Olympia city news for Works in Progress and Olympia Power &