Olympia City Council staff are expected to introduce a work plan item focused on “Workers' Affordability and Protections” at the Council’s regular meeting at 6:00 PM on July 14th.

We encourage everyone working within the Olympia city limits to attend that meeting in person at The Council Chambers in City Hall (601 4th Ave E, Olympia WA 98501 - click here for a map) or virtually via Microsoft Teams (the Teams link will be shared on this page prior to the meeting.) Share your story with the Councilors and remind them that they need to listen to the people struggling to live in Oly if they truly intend to make progress for working families in the city.

Things haven’t gotten better for working people in Olympia since the Workers Bill of Rights was put to voters last year. Workers still feel unsafe in their workplaces, families still can’t plan their lives around unpredictable schedules, and wages are still not keeping up with the cost of living. This is an opportunity to let the Councilors know the provisions in the Workers Bill of Rights should be the standard they base their policies around. This is also a chance to remind them that Organized Labor MUST be part of their work plan, and that a Labor Policy staff member must be included in the process.

Some tips for public testimony:

Public testimony is generally limited to two minutes per speaker. Write your testimony out before the meeting and practice saying it to be sure you don’t run over time.

Speakers giving testimony must sign up ahead of time, but the rules are different for in-person and virtual speakers:

• If you’ll be speaking to the Council in person, the sign up sheet will be put out at 5:30 p.m. and will be removed a few minutes before the meeting begins. Get to the Council Chambers early, and be sure your name is on the sheet!

• If you’ll be speaking to the Council over Microsoft Teams, you must register for the meeting by 4:30 PM on the day of the meeting. When you register you will be asked if you want to participate in public comment - be sure to say “yes.”

Working people in Olympia are still struggling to make ends meet. Please make it a point to attend this meeting, and let the City Council know that if they want to ease those struggles they have to involve workers and Labor in the process.