Attorney General Nick Brown pledges stepped‑up litigation and a new labor enforcement unit to protect Washington workers

Attorney General Nick Brown told a Pierce County workers' town hall that his office will step up litigation and enforcement to shield Washington workers from what he called damaging federal rollbacks and private‑sector abuses. "We have successfully protected about $14,000,000,000 of cuts to Washington," Brown said, describing litigation as a core tool his office has used in the past seven months.

Brown outlined four priorities from his Labor Day report: a dedicated strategic labor enforcement unit inside the attorney general's office; closer partnership with the state Department of Labor and Industries (LNI) to improve enforcement; passage of an Immigrant Worker Protection Act; and vigorous defense against federal actions his office views as unlawful. "When we see actions that are illegal ... absent congressional approval, in violation of state sovereignty, we act," Brown said.

Brown singled out wage theft as a top enforcement target, citing an estimate that U.S. workers lose about $18,000,000,000 per year to unpaid wages. He said his office already brings wage‑theft cases in partnership with LNI and the civil‑rights division and is proposing a new unit to increase capacity and pursue systemic cases. "We're going to be acting more than we have," Brown said, and he told union members to continue reporting cases so his office can prioritize the most impactful matters.

On consumer and antitrust work, Brown pointed to recent actions the office has taken to protect consumers and workers. He cited the state's opposition to the Kroger‑Albertsons merger and said his office sued RealPage earlier this year alleging an illegal price‑fixing algorithm that inflated rental prices in Washington. "If there are opportunities for us to do that against national monopolies, we will absolutely do that," he said.

Labor leaders at the event framed Brown's agenda as complementary to organizing and bargaining at the local level. April Sims, president of the Washington State Labor Council, said the forum was meant to "crowdsource" worker concerns and solutions. Ryan Mello, Pierce County executive, described recent local bargaining activity and a community workforce agreement his office has begun negotiating.

Brown closed by saying litigation is only one tool and that the office will combine enforcement, partnerships with agencies, and legislative advocacy: "We need progressive revenue to fill some of these holes, aggressive actions ... to make sure that we're protecting health care benefits." He told attendees he would remain engaged with unions and community groups to prioritize cases and follow up on reported harms.

The town hall moved to an audience Q&A after the remarks; Brown took questions on affordability, wage theft, housing monopolies, and workers' compensation delays and asked staff to follow up on individual cases.