UPDATE: On Sept. 9, Superior Court Judge Philip E. Thornton issued a decision ordering the initiative appear on the February 2026 special election ballot.
The judge ruled that the city council, by passing a resolution to place the initiative on the November ballot after the deadline had passed, had knowingly passed a resolution that was impossible for the county to enact.
In the South Sound, the push for a workers’ bill of rights in Tacoma is now tied up in the courts.
The backers of the initiative — Tacoma for All, Tacoma Democratic Socialists of America and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 367 — are suing the city, Pierce County and the county’s auditor, Linda Farmer, claiming that Tacoma’s city council deliberately delayed a vote to put the initiative on this November’s ballot. The deadline for the city to submit the initiative for a resolution to be voted on in the November election was Aug. 5. But the city didn’t take action on it until an Aug. 8 special meeting. At that meeting, the council voted unanimously to have it included on the ballot. Given the county deadline, the initiative couldn’t go on the ballot.
“ We are in a position where we don't want to set up precedents where we can just have our elected leaders make a decision to not listen to the people and follow the initiative process,” said Zaid Velasco, a union representative for UFCW Local 367, one of the groups that penned the initiative.
Backers gathered over 10,000 signatures on the initiative, more than the amount required for it to be placed on the ballot.
In late August, the city requested a dismissal of the lawsuit and said in a statement that the initiative would “have a negative impact on every Tacoma resident and their family.”
A spokesperson for the city of Tacoma said that the city does not comment on pending litigation.
The initiative aims to boost the city’s minimum wage and make employers follow laws around consistent scheduling, including a requirement that employers give at least a 14-day notice of work schedules.
“We have people working 40 hours a week. (They) can't pay rent, can't buy food. Something has to change,” Velasco said.
Other UFCW members are finding themselves working 10 days straight, because employers break that up over the pay period. Workers are getting scheduled with less than 48 hours notice or are getting their hours cut, Velasco said.
Mayoral candidates weigh in on workers’ bill of rights
The two candidates in Tacoma’s upcoming mayoral race differ on the workers’ bill of rights.
Anders Ibsen, a former city council member who is broadly supportive of the initiative, said that as he’s been speaking with Tacomans during the campaign, he’s heard from many who are paying half or nearly half their wages towards their housing.
“ What matters is that people in Tacoma are struggling,” Ibsen said.
He thinks going through the legislative process might have be better on the workers' bill of rights. But, Ibsen said he thinks people have sought out a solution through a ballot measure because some are concerned that the city’s government has failed to adequately address challenges working people face.
Ibsen said that the city council missing the deadline is unusual.
“ I wasn't in those meetings, so I'm not gonna comment on what the city did or why it did it. All I can say is just, it's just a very unprofessional look,” Ibsen said. “We can absolutely do better.”
Ibsen’s opponent is John Hines, a current city council member. Given the city’s policy to not comment on pending litigation, Hines agreed to speak solely as a candidate for mayor. His positions do not reflect the city of Tacoma’s.
“ I've been really clear that some of the basic concepts of better wages, more predictable schedules, safe workplaces are concepts I agree with and believe in,” Hines said. “But when we start diving into the details of what they collected, sanctions on the actual written text, I have a lot of concerns about what's there.”
Hines also said he thinks that the change would be better handled through the legislative process.
“I think we could be much better served if we did that through a conversation and a partnership versus through kind of just putting initiative forward, collecting signatures and putting it on the ballot,” Hines said.
Similar to the tenant protections that became law in 2023, were these worker protections to become city law, the council wouldn’t have the authority to alter the policy until it has been in place for two years.
And, if the workers’ bill of rights became law, the only enforcement would be through civil litigation. Unlike Seattle, Tacoma doesn’t have a municipal department of labor to enforce these sorts of laws.
The plaintiffs are waiting for an official ruling on whether the initiative will see a ballot or not.
