Yesterday at the Martin Luther King, Jr. County Labor Council’s monthly delegate meeting, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay announced that his administration is proposing $500,000 to establish a new Office of Labor Standards within King County. This investment will be included in the Executive’s second omnibus budget, which will be proposed next week.

Once established, the office will focus on strengthening labor standards and expanding worker and business outreach and education in unincorporated King County, supporting an informed and empowered workforce and robust regional economy.

“Working people are the backbone of King County. We are proud of our nation-leading policies that uphold strong labor standards and worker protections including the minimum wage ordinance that I sponsored as a councilmember,” said Executive Girmay Zahilay. “With a focus on education and outreach, this new office will support healthy workplaces and provide workers and businesses with the tools and resources they need to understand and implement worker rights. This investment fulfills one of the recommendations from my transition committee and delivers on a commitment I made to support good jobs for all King County residents.” Read more.