|
Last month in the CEO Newsletter, we discussed that the board selected a new direction for local government affairs and promised we would discuss that new direction today.
The reality is that if your city or county council isn’t already discussing sweeping labor policies, they likely will be soon. We’ve seen these efforts emerge in Seattle, Bellingham, Everett, Tukwila, Olympia and Tacoma to name a few.
Increasing the minimum wage is usually just the first issue that emerges at the local level. Then issues like increased business taxes to pay for local enforcement of these rules, restrictive scheduling, outlawing split shifts, increased paid leave, room cleaning requirements, forced union engagement and more are all close behind it.
Up to this point, the association has done everything it could to try to be in all these locations, to be the industry’s voice when these issues were debated. Unfortunately, reality is starting to set in – we simply do not have the financial resources to fight all these fires across the entire state.
This means local labor issues will need to be spearheaded by local business organizations.
Going forward, in areas that don’t pay additional local fees, the association will take more of a supportive role and offer guidance and assistance to local organizations to push back on these local labor initiatives. Which means we’ll be encouraging members to get more involved with their local chambers and get ready for the fight that’s coming your way.
This is new to us, too. Over the next year and a half, we're going to figure out this new direction with you. And our team is going to reach out to chambers, talk about how we can support them and what this looks like, but the lobbying on these issues needs to come from the chamber or a similar local business coalition.
If we had an entire state filled with active chambers that could move and engage their city councils and local elected officials, it would certainly make Washington a much more business-friendly climate. It is important to engage your chamber early in this process, even if you haven’t heard that these issues are coming to your community, so when they do, you and your chamber are prepared.
We as an association will attend the chamber meetings this summer in August, and the annual meeting with the chambers to discuss what this might look like. The honest answer is that we don't know what this will look like. That's why I feel like we need to be transparent and say, if you're worried about your community, the time is now to get involved in your chamber leadership.
The Washington Hospitality Association has a lot of value: we protect and enhance our industry by advocating on your behalf at the state level, our national partners advocate for us at a national level, we are your primary source of news and information about the industry, we offer you a return on investment through programs such as credit card processing and insurance, and we illuminate career pathways to help and train your workforce. We will continue to serve you in these areas.
Unfortunately, there is a growing need that is outpacing our ability as a state association to get ahead of these issues at various local levels.
We need to strengthen our communities; we need to be strong. In the long run, belonging to both organizations has all kinds of other beneficial features beyond this issue.
As always, it’s an honor to serve you, |
