Tacoma labor leaders urge transparency ordinance, labor standards to curb wage theft and unsafe worksites

Tacoma council members and labor leaders on Feb. 11 held a roundtable on worker safety and wage theft, during which union representatives described widespread under‑the‑table pay, misclassification of workers, unsafe jobsite conditions and bid‑shopping on private and public construction projects and urged city action including a contractor “transparency ordinance.”

Council Member M. Diaz, who organized the session, said the meeting was “for informational purposes. It's to give all of us as council members an opportunity to hear from our labor partners on how this issue impacts…their members and their future members.” Diaz said the group limited the discussion to worker safety and wage theft so the committee could focus on concrete problems and next steps.

Speakers representing seven labor organizations described recurring problems they said they encounter on Tacoma projects: subcontracts that pay under the table, short or delayed pay, crews working unsafe conditions, employers classifying workers as independent contractors to evade prevailing‑wage…