Seattle’s Network Company Fee

Seattle gig workers have organized to transform the industry.

They’ve set an example for the country by passing groundbreaking new rights like fair pay, guaranteed flexibility and transparency, paid sick time, and protections against deactivation (automated termination or suspension).

Now it’s time to make these rights real.

A crucial element is the infrastructure the city of Seattle has created to hold companies accountable to workers and their rights.

The city is unique for setting up the Seattle Office of Labor Standards (OLS) to enforce our laws and the Community Outreach and Education Fund (COEF) to resource community organizations with direct access to workers to inform them about our hard won rights and what to do when they’re violated.

Unfortunately, there is no dedicated funding stream for labor standards enforcement.

That means this critical work risks being under-resourced despite its demonstrated benefits to workers, businesses that follow the law, and the Seattle economy.

We have an opportunity to change that this year.

Workers are championing a ten cent fee that companies must pay to fund enforcement of these gig worker ordinances through OLS and COEF. The COEF program has had no increase in funding since inception, but workers keep winning labor standards that need enforcement. Funding needs to keep up, and the high rates of violations in this industry to date show how much work needs to be done to change norms to ensure workers are treated fairly and with respect.

This fee will help make that goal a reality.

It is also a step forward towards creating new models of progressive revenue and undoing the harmful impacts of our current system, which too often lets multinational corporations off the hook from paying their fare share. We need a fee leveraged on network companies to pay for enforcement of new gig worker rights that apps will otherwise violate if they can get away with it.

Network companies that break the rules need to pay for their own bad behavior.

As Seattle workers continue to show workers nationwide what’s possible when we organize, the Seattle City Council has an exciting opportunity to write a budget that will make our hard-fought wins real and model a true commitment to sustained organizing. By passing robust labor standards, as well as ensuring the funding to enforce them, Seattle will continue to be a national leader for cities around the country.