Instacart workers organized to get the company to stop taking tips — and now they’re bringing together gig workers across apps on the #PayUp campaign. They’re fighting for bold new laws to make the gig economy work for workers.
Vanessa, an Instacart worker who’s been pushing back against the company for years, is a leader on the campaign. “What we are trying to achieve — cross-platform movement-building — is no small feat,” she says. “But I believe strongly that it is absolutely crucial, and I believe fundamentally that it is absolutely achievable.”

OUR LATEST REPORT: DELIVERING INEQUALITY — WHAT INSTACART REALLY PAYS

Updating overtime rights for salaried workers  
Last year, WA L&I started the process of finally updating our state’s overtime rules for the first time in four decades. We’ve been leading the way on restoring overtime rights by making sure L&I actually hears from workers, not just big businesses who say we don’t need overtime pay for overtime hours.
After a yearlong process, the next step is L&I putting out their final proposal for the overtime salary threshold — we’ll keep you posted when it comes out so we can make sure they know we’re done giving away our time to our bosses for free.

Fighting for statewide secure scheduling  
Food & retail workers in Seattle won secure scheduling, getting more notice & more flexibility in their work schedules. Since then, workers across WA have pushed for a statewide bill.
The legislature failed to pass secure scheduling this year. So we’re doubling down on organizing — holding meetings with food & retail workers, reaching out to lawmakers, and gearing up for a fight in the legislature next January.

JOIN IN THE FIGHT FOR SECURE SCHEDULING

Interested in learning more about these campaigns? Have your own idea for a big workers’ rights issue we need to tackle next?

workingwa.org

Big companies are driving our lives out of balance.

Target: Washington State Legislature

Our time counts!

Too many employers expect us to be available 24/7, even for part-time jobs. They expect us to come in at the last minute or work late nights followed by early mornings without time to rest. They expect us to put up with fluctuating hours and never knowing whether we’ll get enough hours to pay our bills.

But workers are humans too — we need time to spend with our families, take classes, work a second job, or just take care of ourselves. We need the flexibility & stability to live our lives and contribute to our communities. That’s why we’re advocating for a new scheduling law that would improve hours & notice for workers across Washington state.

Food and retail workers shouldn’t be getting so few hours they can’t make ends meet, or so many they don’t have time for anything else.

We need:

• Access to additional hours
• Two weeks’ notice of our shifts
• The right to rest between shifts
• Input into our schedules

Sign on in support of better schedules for workers across Washington!

workingwa.org

When Abid heard about a court decision declaring a federal ban on female genital mutilation unconstitutional, he knew firsthand how dangerous that would be. As the brother of an FGM survivor, he knows how damaging the procedure is — and how many girls across the U.S. are at risk. Now he’s calling on his home state of Washington to keep girls safe by instituting a ban against FGM.

Washington state legislators: Female Genital Mutilation is an American issue. States need to protect girls and ban FGM!  

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice decided to drop the appeal on a Detroit ruling that overturned the federal ban on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). For girls at risk of FGM, this federal ruling has put them in great jeopardy. Supporters of FGM are now empowered to think that if the federal law is not upheld, then the practice must not be wrong. And in states without anti-FGM legislation, the absence of a federal ban leaves women and girls at even greater risk.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, an estimated 513,000 women and girls have undergone or are at risk of FGM in the United States. For me, these cases aren’t just data points. My sister is a survivor of FGM. When I was eleven and she was seven, we traveled on our own to visit our aunt in India over the summer. What I thought was a routine summer vacation turned out to be a horror story for my sister. Our aunt cut my little sister in her basement clinic. I later learned that my aunt carried this out without our parents’ consent and to this day, believes she did the right thing.

I learned about my sister’s experience when she shared her story in the Guardian a few years ago. Before then, I didn’t know much about FGM. I had no idea it was happening in this country let alone in my community. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ definition, FGM is a human rights abuse, form of gender-based violence and child abuse. And in my sister’s words: FGM destroyed her childhood, shattered her self-confidence, and is something she will never fully recover from.

By breaking her silence and courageously sharing her story, my sister has become part of a movement to end FGM not just in the US, but all around the world. As her brother, I stand alongside her and the many survivors on the frontlines of this movement. They should not be shouldering this burden on their own. We need more allies, including men and boys, to speak up.

Right now, we have the power to send a powerful message that FGM has no place in this country. I am writing to urge Washington state legislators to pass a law banning FGM in the state of Washington, as well as provide the resources needed to support FGM survivors and educate communities (healthcare providers, religious leaders, school teachers, and policymakers) around the devastating consequences of FGM. We need a holistic approach where prosecution is not the end goal, but a pathway to prevention.

I want no girl in the United States to endure what my sister went through. Washington is at risk of becoming an FGM destination state where girls are transported from states that have succeeded in criminalizing FGM. We need to close the federal loophole on FGM in the United States by lobbying for anti-FGM legislation at the state level: starting with my home state of Washington. Please join me in the fight to pass a law in Washington that criminalizes FGM.

Following is the 74-26 roll-call by which the Senate today approved the Chemical Weapons Convention. Voting ”yes” were 29 Republicans and 45 Democrats. Voting ”no” were 26 Republicans.

REPUBLICANS YES

Abraham, Mich.; Chafee, R.I.; Coats, Ind.; Cochran, Miss.; Collins, Maine; D’Amato, N.Y.; DeWine, Ohio; Domenici, N.M.; Enzi, Wyo.; Frist, Tenn.; Gorton, Wash.; Gregg, N.H.; Hagel, Neb.; Hatch, Utah; Jeffords, Vt.; Lott, Miss.; Lugar, Ind.; McCain, Ariz.; McConnell, Ky.; Murkowski, Alaska; Roberts, Kan.; Roth, Del.; Santorum, Pa.; G. Smith, Ore.; Snowe, Maine; Specter, Pa.; Stevens, Alaska; Thomas, Wyo.; Warner, Va.

REPUBLICANS NO

Allard, Colo.; Ashcroft, Mo.; Bennett, Utah; Bond, Mo.; Brownback, Kan.; Burns, Mont.; Campbell, Colo.; Coverdell, Ga.; Craig, Idaho; Faircloth, N.C.; Gramm, Texas; Grams, Minn.; Grassley, Iowa; Helms, N.C.; Hutchinson, Ark.; Hutchison, Tex.; Inhofe, Okla.; Kempthorne, Idaho; Kyl, Ariz.; Mack, Fla.; Nickles, Okla.; Sessions, Ala.; Shelby, Ala.; B. Smith, (N.H.; Thompson, Tenn.; Thurmond, S.C.

DEMOCRATS YES

Akaka, Hawaii; Baucus, Mont.; Biden, Del.; Bingaman, N.M.; Boxer, Calif.; Breaux, La.; Bryan, Nev.; Bumpers, Ark.; Byrd, W.Va.; Cleland, Ga.; Conrad, N.D.; Daschle, S.D.; Dodd, Conn.; Dorgan, N.D.; Durbin, Ill.; Feingold, Wisc.; Feinstein, Calif.; Ford, Ky.; Glenn, Ohio; Graham, Fla.; Harkin, Ill.; Hollings, S.C.; Inouye, Hawaii; Johnson, S.D.; Kennedy, Mass.; Kerrey, Neb.; Kerry, Mass.; Kohl, Wisc.; Landrieu, La.; Lautenberg, N.J.; Leahy, Vt.; Levin, Mich.; Lieberman, Conn.; Mikulski, Md.; Moseley-Braun, Ill.; Moynihan, N.Y.; Murray, Wash.; Reed, R.I.; Reid, Nev.; Robb, Va.; Rockefeller, W.Va.; Sarbanes, Md.; Torricelli, N.J.; Wellstone, Minn.; Wyden, Ore.