Issue Position: Great Jobs and a Strong Economy

Issue Position

No one should have to work full time and still live in poverty.

ADVOCATING FOR BETTER WAGES

I will work to create high paying jobs and make sure our schools are training students for those jobs. As a member of the Shoreline City Council I pushed to increase the minimum wage and provide paid sick leave to workers.

FIGHTING FOR PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE

As a Council member for the city of Shoreline I am proud to have sponsored and passed paid parental and family medical leave in Shoreline and am pleased the state legislature later passed a similar policy for the all of Washington. I will fight to protect and enhance this policy. To have a healthy community and well-adjusted children we must allow parents time to bond with newborns.

INVESTING IN EDUCATION

High wage jobs are coming into this area but we aren't doing a good enough job educating our kids so that they can compete for these jobs. I will fight for funding and evidence based investments in education so that our kids can get the great jobs that are coming to our area.

STANDING UP FOR WORKERS RIGHTS

A growing problem is wage theft where some employers fail to pay workers for their labor. We must enforce people's right to get paid for their work. As a member of SEIU 925, and in organizing labor unions for a summer, I saw firsthand how important it is to empower workers to have a voice.

THE FACTS

Income inequality has reached unprecedented and dangerous levels. Since 1980, wages for the middle and working class have stagnated or gone down while productivity has skyrocketed. That profit has largely gone to the top income earners. This is unfair. We need laws and policies that truly reward hard work with economic mobility that lead to solid careers.[1]

Source