Fair Work Center launches to help workers navigate Seattle’s new labor laws

Fair Work Center Nonprofit will partner with new law clinic at University of Washington

SEATTLE—With new wage laws now in effect in Seattle, the nonprofit Fair Work Center has launched to help workers better understand their rights and the city’s labor standards.

“Seattle is fortunate to have a suite of newly adopted labor laws, including one of the highest minimum wages in the country,” said Director Nicole Vallestero Keenan. “Fair Work Center has been established to help workers make sense of their rights to paid sick leave, wage theft protections, minimum wage and more.”

Workers with questions about the phase-in of $15/hour minimum wage, securing paid sick leave, or other issues can connect with Fair Work Center online at fairworkcenter.org; by email at help@fairworkcenter.org. The center will provide services in Vietnamese, Spanish, Somali and English. The Fair Work Center offices are located at 5308 Martin Luther King Jr. Way South.

“It’s understandable that workers will have questions about their rights under the city’s laws,” said Kellye Testy, Dean of the UW School of Law. “The new UW program, in conjunction with Fair Work Center, will help them get the benefits they’ve earned.”

Fair Work Center’s Board includes:

• Rebecca Smith, National Employment Law Project


• Candace Inagi, Development Director, Asian Counseling and Referral Service


• Rebecca Saldana, Executive Director, Puget Sound Sage


• Rich Stolz, Executive Director, One America


• David Rolf, President, SEIU 775


• Marcus Courtney, Senior Field Representative, AFL-CIO

Vallestero Keenan brings 10 years of experience in research, advocacy campaigns, civic engagement, racial justice organizing, social services, and community and business outreach. Prior to joining the Fair Work Center, she served as the Policy Director at Puget Sound Sage – where she led the policy and analysis work on labor standards.

She began her career through community engagement and youth engagement roles at the Washington Environmental Council, El Centro de la Raza and the Washington Bus. Vallestero Keenan served as Board President of the Asian Community Leadership Foundation until 2015.

Fair Work Center is fiscally sponsored by a 501c3 nonprofit organization committed to helping workers navigate Seattle’s new labor laws.

Motion Picture and TV Industry is Responsible for more than 37,600 Jobs in Washington

Motion Picture and TV Industry Directly Employs More than 8,500 Local Workers and Paying $348.5 Million in Wages

Supporting TPA and Strong Trade Agreements Will Boost Washington’s Film and TV Economic Sector 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, as Congress continues to consider Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation, the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) is revealing new state economic data in Washington, showing that the state’s film and TV industry directly employs more than 8,500 workers, paying $348.5 million in wages. That economic activity is the foundation of a vibrant statewide industry that consists of more than 2,150 motion picture and television industry businesses and is responsible for more than 37,600 jobs.

Overall, the American motion picture and TV industry supports 1.9 million jobs nationwide.  Overseas markets are critical to the success of the US motion picture and TV industry, which registered $15.8 billion in exports and a positive services trade surplus of $13.4 billion in 2013.

To continue growing film and TV exports, it’s important that Congress pass trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation. This legislation is an important step towards finalizing strong trade agreements like TPP that will allow the motion picture and TV industry to create more jobs in the U.S. by reaching some of the world’s biggest and most important markets.

The motion picture and television industry’s economic impact touches every corner of the U.S., including Washington, which hosted the production of 7 movies and 3 TV series from 2013 to 2014. A few example productions include “Captain Fantastic,” “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” and “The Legend of Mick Dodge,” among others.

MPAA Chairman and CEO Senator Chris Dodd stated, “The motion picture and television industry is a major American exporter and driver of economic growth. Passage of TPA is a key step for completing trade agreements like TPP that will increase America’s global competiveness and promote the good-paying jobs that our industry supports in all 50 states.”

Click here for an INFOGRAPHIC that further outlines the link between trade, movies, and American jobs.  And visit TheCredits.org to find out more about the creativity, innovation, and workers behind-the-scenes of the American movie and television industry.

About the MPAA

The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries from its offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Its members include: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation; Universal City Studios LLC; and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Is Bellevue Really All About the Artsy Intellectual?

A visitor to our great City of Bellevue writes that he's loving Bellevue and wants to move out here. He prefers the best side of the lake to the west side of the lake and says that Bellevue is all about the artsy intellectual .... I'm not sure about that, but it would be cool if we could find him a job so he can move out here. Unfortunately, he does not have a contact link on his blog ... that makes me think - do I? At any rate, how would (do?) you describe Bellevue? What is your favorite reason you think the Eastside is superior to the other side of the lake?