The Seattle City Council’s powerful Governance, Accountability, and Economic Development Committee chaired by council president Sara Nelson had a busy Thursday moving forward two pieces of legislation putting more teeth in the city’s drive to hire more police officers and rolling back the city’s minimum wage for delivery drivers.
Citing the city’s terrible showing in hiring new recruits — last year, the Seattle Police Department hired only 61 police officers out of 1,948 applications — Nelson’s bill moved forward through the committee with a plan she says will make for a better, more efficient path by creating a new Recruitment & Retention program “to implement best practices
and innovative new recruitment approaches,” requiring the exam for entry-level and lateral police officer positions “be offered in a manner that supports flexibility and accessibility for exam-takers,” and improving outreach to candidates. The program will require three full-time employees set to be transferred from the city’s human resources department plus a full-time manager. A fifth role would be added to “enable personalized communication with candidates within 48 hours of applying to SPD and establishing a point of contact to support them throughout the hiring process.”
The personnel cost of the program will be around $611,000 a year, the city says. The new legislative effort has formed as SPD has failed to reach hiring goals despite the approval of a new bonus program for recruits in 2022. The council is also considering the addition of elements to help address issues raised in the investigation of sexual harassment allegations at SPD. The legislation shaping the new program will now move to the full council.
Thursday’s committee actions also approved Nelson’s efforts to reform the city’s minimum wage ordinance for delivery workers. CHS reported here on the proposal that would roll back the city’s minimum wage requirements for app-based workers amid complaints of soaring fees and lost work, and heavy lobbying by the industry.
The proposal approved by the council committee Thursday will eliminate a boosted minimum wage for the industry and set the rate at the standard $19.97 per hour for “engaged” time when making deliveries. The proposal will also cut the city per-mile minimum to 35 cents, and eliminate things like the $5 minimum trip payout while also removing provisions included in the original legislation that were hoped to boost transparency and labor rights for app-based workers. One of those elements was preserved Thursday in an amendment that restored a delivery worker’s right to sue.
Advocates said the original minimum wage for delivery workers would be the first of its kind in the nation and eliminate “sub-minimum wages” for gig workers by guaranteeing a minimum payment amount for “engaged time” and “engaged miles” as the city’s 40,000 or so drivers and couriers make deliveries for the likes of DoorDash, Instacart, and Uber Eats. Industry lobbying has been intense with companies complaining loudly about the law they say requires Seattle delivery workers to be paid more than $26 an hour. In the meantime, Seattle consumers have faced massive delivery fees added by the companies to cover the increased costs — end then some.
District 3 representative and committee member Joy Hollingsworth chose to abstain on the delivery worker minimum wage vote saying the council “must balance innovation and worker rights” as she said she needed more time to decide on the legislation.
The reform bill will now move on to the full council for a final vote.
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