For almost 1-1/2 years, 15 Now Tacoma has been making news headlines. With very little money and a lot of energy, we’ve managed to rock Tacoma’s political establishment. For months now, 15 Now Tacoma has been a major topic of political conversation in this town. The Chamber of Commerce, the City Council, and the Mayor are on the defensive.
Doug Nielson assembled a list of just under 60 news stories about us, spanning from early 2014 to the middle of 2015. He originally put this list on an experimental website. Doug has now given 15nowtacoma.info permission to edit and use it. Our editor fixed some of the broken links, made some minor corrections, and put together this introduction.
Thanks to Doug for assembling the original list, which documents the remarkable news coverage of our story. We hope you find this list of links to be useful.
————In The News
Matt Driscoll: 2nd ballot measure on wages creates plenty of questions TheNewsTribune.com -July 15, 2015. 15 Now Tacoma has emerged victorious. It’s not the victory the group is ultimately after, of course. In fact, I’m sure they still feel slighted and disrespected, so
Tacoma Voters Will Face Two Minimum Wage Initiatives On The November Ballot KPLU News for Seattle and the Northwest – ?Jul 15, 2015?: Tacoma is ground zero for the state’s next big minimum wage battle. The city council voted 7-1 to put an initiative on the November ballot to hike the minimum wage in phases over the next three years, reaching $12 an hour in January 2018. After that, the minimum wage would rise every year at the rate of inflation.
Tacoma council votes to send $12 wage issue to fall ballot TheNewsTribune.com – ?Jul 14, 2015?. The Tacoma City Council voted 7-1 Tuesday to send a $12 minimum wage issue to the fall ballot. City Councilman David Boe voted against the issue, and Councilman Joe Lonergan was absent.
$15 Minimum wage doesn’t fit Tacoma, opponents say KIRO Seattle – ?Jul 14, 2015? “Dignity! Respect! Put 15 in my check!” They were outside the Tacoma City Hall to rally their supporters, a handful of 15 Now Tacoma volunteers whose initiative to immediately raise the minimum wage is already on the November ballot. “It’s very hard to feed my family with the minimum wage as it is,” said Jesse Griggs, a fast food worker.
Tacoma mayor proposed minimum wage increase heads to November Ballot KING5.com – ?Jul 14, 2015? TACOMA, Wash. — Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland on Tuesday night proposed to the City Council a minimum wage increase to $12. The proposal would gradually put minimum wage at $12 an hour by 2018.
$12 wage may go on ballot in Tacoma Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce – ?Jul 14, 2015? TACOMA (AP) — Tacoma’s mayor wants to put a proposal for a $12 minimum hourly wage on the fall ballot to compete with a citizen’s initiative seeking a $15 wage.
What do Tacoma, Bernie Sanders and the Pope have in common? MyNorthwest.com – ?Jul 13, 2015? The minimum wage conversation continues in Washington as the movement to raise the rate in Tacoma is heating up. David says activists, Bernie Sanders, and the Pope all have a backward view of how wages should work. (AP file photo). Comments. Share.
TACOMA: Mayor’s pay proposal is disappointing | The News …July 13, 2015 Letter to Editor The News Tribune. 3 days ago – Mayor Marilyn Strickland’s advocacy of a $12 minimum wage should come as a great disappointment to Tacoma’s working families. She has…
Tacoma mayor to propose $12 minimum wage for ballot MyNorthwest.com-Jul 12, 2015 Tacoma’s mayor wants to put a proposal for a $12 minimum hourly wage on the fall ballot to compete with a citizen’s initiative seeking a $15…
City task force sends 2 minimum wage increase proposals to Tacoma City Council, Q13Fox, June 30, 2015—TACOMA — The majority of a city task force on Tuesday recommended that the minimum wage in Tacoma be raised to $15 an hour over the next nine years.The 15-member committee came up with two minimum wage proposals for the city council to consider.
Tacoma $15 wage boosters: Right approach could remove issue … TheNewsTribune.com-Jul 4, 2015. Members of 15 Now Tacoma joined Raise Up Tacoma, Labor activists and union members Tuesday, July 30, for a 15 dollar an hour minimum…
$15 Now fires back at minimum wage plans Business Examiner (blog) – ?Jul 1, 2015?. Working Washington, a labor lobby group that has been pushing the $15 minimum wage debate in the Puget Sound region, shot back at the two proposals presented by the Tacoma Minimum Wage Task Force today. In a press release sent out today, Working…
Where Are the Presidential Candidates on the Minimum Wage? Huffington Post-Jun 30, 2015. As the 2016 campaign season gets underway, working families across the country will be very interested in where presidential candidates stand on raising the minimum wage. Currently, the Federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour or roughly $15,000 annually,…. Tacoma, Washington’s city council will vote this fall on a wage hike that will raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020 for large…
Tacoma prepares minimum wage plans KING5.com-Jun 30, 2015. The City of Tacoma Minimum Wage Task Force presented their final recommendations to the Tacoma City Council, Tuesday. Proposal A would…
City task force sends 2 minimum wage increase proposals to …Q13 FOX-Jun 30, 2015 TACOMA — The majority of a city task force on Tuesday recommended that the minimum wage in Tacoma be raised to $15 an hour over the next nine years….
Rally for higher minimum wage draws 150 in Tacoma TheNewsTribune.com – ?Jun 30, 2015?. Around 150 people rallied at Theater On The Square in downtown Tacoma to support a higher minimum wage here. They supported two different approaches: One that increase the wage $15 per hour right away and another that appeared to support a…
Matt Driscoll: Divided Tacoma Minimum Wage Task Force plans go … TheNewsTribune.com-Jun 29, 2015. And by all indications, it wasn’t. In fact, if you were to compile a list of adjectives that best describe the work of Tacoma’s Minimum Wage Task…
Tacoma Minimum Wage Task Force weighs in with 2 proposals TheNewsTribune.com-Jun 28, 2015. Most on Tacoma’s 15-member Minimum Wage Task Force say hourly pay for all of the city’s lowest-paid employees should rise to $15 an hour…
Minimum Wage Task Force mulling options Business Examiner (blog)-Jun 20, 2015. Currently, the city of Tacoma Minimum Wage Task Force is considering four… The first alternative would increase the minimum wage to $12,…
$15 wage initiative could be withdrawn, though unlikely TheNewsTribune.com-Jun 17, 2015. The Tacoma City Council has until July 6 to pass a citizen initiative to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 a hour or to send it to the ballot,…
Big labor not yet backing Tacoma group behind minimum wage… TheNewsTribune.com-Jun 13, 2015. Tacoma business leaders fear national labor unions will donate big bucks to support a ballot measure that would raise the city’s minimum wage…
Tacoma minimum wage initiative calls for $15 hourly wages KIRO Seattle-Jun 8, 2015. For a while it didn’t look like the 15 Now Tacoma minimum wage initiative would make the ballot. Out of more than 5,500 signatures gathered,…
Minimum wage hike to $15 qualifies for Tacoma ballot The Spokesman Review-Jun 7, 2015—TACOMA – A citizens’ initiative to raise Tacoma’s minimum wage to $15 an hour has qualified for the November ballot.
Seattle’s minimum wage supporters report ‘sky remains aloft’ MyNorthwest.com-Jun 6, 2015. While Seattle continues to figure out its minimum wage law, Tacoma is preparing for its own wage changes. A $15 minimum wage is too high,…
Proposal for $15 minimum wage qualifies for Tacoma ballot The Seattle Times-Jun 6, 2015. A measure to raise Tacoma’s minimum wage to $15 an hour has qualified for the November ballot, while the City Council plans to consider an…
$15 minimum wage proposal qualifies for November ballot in Tacoma Q13 FOX-Jun 5, 2015—The Pierce County auditor’s staff notified the city of Tacoma on Friday that an initiative to raise the minimum wage in the city to $15 an hour has qualified for the November ballot.
Tacoma $15 minimum wage measure qualifies for November ballot TheNewsTribune.com-Jun 5, 2015—TACOMA — Elections officials notified the city of Tacoma on Friday that a citizens initiative to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour has qualified for the November ballot.
Nearly half signatures gathered for $15 minimum wage in Tacoma… KIRO Seattle-May 28, 2015. Activists pushing for a $15 an hour minimum wage in Tacoma are facing a big setback. Almost half the signatures they gathered are invalid.
Backers of Tacoma’s $15 minimum wage ballot measure need more…TheNewsTribune.com-May 27, 2015—The activist group pushing to place a $15 minimum wage measure on the November ballot will have to keep gathering signatures, after 41 percent of the initial batch were declared invalid.
High error rate in Tacoma $15 wage issue signatures, auditor says TheNewsTribune.com-May 22, 2015. More than 40 percent of signatures evaluated so far for a $15 minimum wage ballot issue in Tacoma are invalid, Pierce County Auditor Julie…
A $15 minimum wage will hurt workers in long term TheNewsTribune.com-May 21, 2015. So Los Angeles is raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020, and then indexes the wage to inflation, so that it will never fall below this…
15 Now campaign turns in signatures Business Examiner (blog)-May 20, 2015. “15 Now Tacoma applauds the steps taken by the council at the best of the business interests of Tacoma,” organizers wrote. “We regret that we…
Group hopes to put $15 minimum wage on Tacoma ballot kgw.com-May 19, 2015 (AP) – A proposal to raise Tacoma’s minimum wage to $15 an hour could be… A group called 15 Now Tacoma turned in signatures to Pierce…
$15 minimum wage issue may head to Tacoma ballot The Columbian-May 19, 2015—TACOMA — Activist group 15 Now Tacoma submitted signatures to the Tacoma city clerk Monday in hopes of qualifying a $15 minimum wage issue for the November ballot.
$15 minimum wage headed to Tacoma ballots if signatures pass… TheNewsTribune.com-May 19, 2015. Activist group 15 Now Tacoma submitted signatures to the Tacoma city clerk Monday in hopes of qualifying a $15 minimum wage issue for the…
Tacoma tackles the $15/hour minimum wage issue KIRO Seattle-May 18, 2015—TACOMA, Wash. —The battle over a $15 an hour minimum wage will probably be decided by voters. Members of 15 Now Tacoma said they have many more signatures than needed to get a $15 minimum wage initiative on the city’s November ballot.
Matt Driscoll: Meet Abranna Romero-Rocha, the Lincoln High… TheNewsTribune.com-May 16, 2015. Abranna Romero-Rocha, and the other appointed members of Tacoma’s Minimum Wage Task Force, could be up to the difficult job in front of…
Tacoma mayor: $15 minimum wage would be a ‘shock’ to the economy MyNorthwest.com-May 15, 2015. A $15 minimum wage is too high for Tacoma and may not have been the best choice for Seattle, Mayor Marilyn Strickland told KIRO Radio’s…
If Tacoma is to raise the minimum wage, do it the smart way TheNewsTribune.com-May 13, 2015. The 15 Now campaign in Tacoma demonstrates about as much empathy for small businesses as Mao Zedong did. Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland appointed a task force on Tuesday to come up with a ballot measure that would take a more gradual approach to raising the minimum wage than one proposed by 15 Now Tacoma activists. City of Tacoma…
Tacoma mayor picks Minimum Wage Task Force members TheNewsTribune.com-May 12, 2015. Business owners, labor leaders and even a high school student made the cut for the Tacoma Minimum Wage Task Force. Tacoma Mayor…
Tacoma City Council, Chamber ready to take on minimum wage Business Examiner-May 11, 2015. The Tacoma City Council is gearing up to take on minimum wage. Last week, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Pierson wrote a letter to Mayor Marilyn Strickland citing concerns over the ‘15 Now’ campaign, calling it “just too extreme.”…
Tacoma needs a $15 minimum wage sooner, not later TheNewsTribune.com-May 10, 2015. Washington’s minimum wage is now at $9.47 an hour, which comes out to less than $20,000 a year. That’s below the official poverty level for a…
Matt Driscoll: Seize chance for compromise on Tacoma’s minimum… TheNewsTribune.com-May 6, 2015. Cue the “Kumbaya.” On Tuesday, Mayor Marilyn Strickland and the City Council came together to create a Minimum Wage Task Force — a group of 13 or so people who will be asked to craft a compromise on raising the minimum wage in Tacoma. The decision was inspired by a letter sent to Strickland by Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber President Tom Pierson,…
Tacoma mayor is ‘being held hostage’ by minimum wage supporters MyNorthwest.com-May 6, 2015—In Tacoma, Mayor Marilyn Strickland is trying to get ahead of the call for a $15 minimum wage. The mayor agreed to work toward a ballot measure that would provide a gradual increase to a higher minimum wage and created a task force to help find the right solution. “Do you see this mayor working with the Chamber actually doing a good thing by circumventing a popular vote?
Tacoma mayor, Chamber agree to work on alternative to $15… TheNewsTribune.com-May 5, 2015. Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland, at the urging of a leading business group, agreed Tuesday to work toward a ballot measure that provides a gradual increase to the city’s minimum wage…
Thousands rally nationwide for higher minimum wages Mid Columbia Tri City Herald-Apr 15, 2015. Tacoma appears to be the closest to putting a minimum wage measure to a vote. But advocates in Olympia, Spokane and other cities are…
Minimum wage issue bubbling up around the stateThe Seattle Times-Apr 14, 2015. Tacoma appears to be the closest to putting a minimum–wage measure to a vote. But advocates in Olympia, Spokane and other cities are…
Watch out, Tacoma: ‘Radical’ minimum wage push comes your way MyNorthwest.com-Apr 7, 2015. The $15 an hour movement has spread to Tacoma and things are getting… If Tacoma implements a $15 minimum wage, Panagos said, he’ll…
Minimum wage debate flares at Tacoma merchants meeting TheNewsTribune.com-Apr 2, 2015. Raising Tacoma’s minimum wage to $15 an hour as early as the end of the year is too much, too fast, said owners of several restaurants and…
Battle over state’s minimum wage heats up in Olympia KIRO Seattle-Mar 30, 2015. The battle over Washington State’s minimum wage is heating up in… The owner of Stink Meat and Cheese in Tacoma told KIRO 7 half her…
Tacoma voters may soon decide $15 minimum wage debate KING5.com-Dec 20, 2014. TACOMA, Wash. — Tacoma could be the next city in Washington to implement a $15 minimum wage, but the decision may soon be in the hands…
$15 minimum wage could be on Tacoma ballot in 2015 TheNewsTribune.com-Dec 9, 2014. That means almost every business that operates in Tacoma would have to pay its workers the minimum wage, said Tom Pierson, president and…
Campaign to raise Tacoma minimum wage to $15 ramps up KING5.com-Oct 21, 2014. The Tacoma City Council received 1,300 signatures supporting a $15 minimum wage. It follows Seattle’s passing its own legislation, but would…
Senior facility rent hike attributed to $15 min. wage KING5.com-Oct 7, 2014. If they did their finances properly,even WITH a $15 min wage and (oh no!)…. But Tacoma has no plans to implement a $15 minimum wage.
Seniors call rate hikes at Tacoma assisted living facility ‘unethical’ KIRO Seattle-Oct 1, 2014. Only Tacoma city officials say that a proposal for a $15 minimum wage isn’t even in the works. “You can’t tell somebody we don’t know if this…
Undaunted by rain, Tacoma marchers demand “$15 now!” People’s World-Mar 12, 2014— …and nearly 100 women and men marched in a steady downpour here to demand an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
First $15 minimum wage rally in Tacoma KIRO Seattle-Mar 8, 2014. The signs are all there that the push for a $15 minimum wage has come to… “We wanted to do something in Tacoma because Tacoma needs a…
Original research courtesy of Doug Nielson