Not satisfied with the damage it has already done to the city’s small businesses through over-regulation, the Seattle City Council is considering a proposal that would, essentially, restrict how many people businesses can hire, when they can schedule employees to work without paying a penalty, and the length of notice businesses give them for their work shifts.
Conveniently enough, this proposal has been developed by the labor unions that also — conveniently — provide campaign cash to the Seattle politicians pushing it.
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and councilmembers insist that the new regulations are necessary to “protect restaurant and retail workers from how their employers schedule them.”
The problem is, the workers don’t agree with Seattle’s nanny-state approach.
A new survey of 700 restaurant workers by the Seattle Restaurant Alliance reveals that workers are — in fact — “happy with their working conditions and don’t think new laws restricting scheduling are needed.”
Additionally, three out of four workers surveyed say “employers and their employees know best what workplace changes are needed and how to implement them, not government.” Via the Washington Policy Center:
- 89% say they can talk to their manager and give input about their work environment, number of hours and scheduling needs
- 76% percent work the number of hours they want
- 86% percent of Seattle restaurant workers are proud to work in the industry
Howard Behar, the former president of Starbucks International, criticized the problem by calling it a “solution in search of a problem.”
It appears, more than ever, that that a private-sector leader like Behar is spot on.
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