The Transit Riders Union is an independent, democratic, member-run union of transit riders organizing for better public transit in Seattle, King County and beyond. Through our organizing efforts we won a low income fare! We invite you to join us and fight for the future of public transit!
2025 Fundraiser – This Is Our City!
Our 2025 fundraiser is this Thursday, December 11th, at El Centro de la Raza on Beacon Hill. Come out and celebrate our powerful wins and excellent candidates with your fellow TRU members and allies!
TRU members get a complimentary ticket (see the Members Wall for details), everyone can sign up here: https://givebutter.com/Z0191M
- When? December 11th!
- What time? 6pm to 8pm (doors open at 5:30pm)
- Where? El Centro de la Raza cultural center room, just north of Beacon Hill Station
- Who? You!
2025 General Election Endorsements
Katie Wilson for Seattle Mayor
Alexis Mercedes Rinck for Seattle City Council Position 8
Dionne Foster for Seattle City Council Position 9
Erika Evans for Seattle City Attorney
Claudia Balducci and Girmay Zahilay for King County Executive
Maya Vengadasalam for King County District 7
Jude Anthony King County Council District 9
Andrew Reding for Bellingham City Council Ward 6
Brittany Miles for Bothell City Council Position 5
Hugo Garcia for Burien City Council Position 1
Sam Mendez for Burien City Council Position 3
Sarah Moore for Burien City Council Position 5
Rocco DeVito for Burien City Council Position 7
Nigel Herbig for Kenmore City Council Position 4
Kurt Dresner for Kirkland City Council Position 7
Josh Rosenau for Lake Forest Park City Council Position 3
Josh Binda for Lynnwood City Council Position 3
Paul Charbonneau for Newcastle City Council Position 6
Michael Westgaard for Renton City Council Position 1
Carmen Rivera for Renton City Council Position 2
Paul Dutton for Renton City Council Position 6
Ling Yang for Sammamnish City Council Position 5
Caitlin Konya for SeaTac City Council Position 2
Mohamed Egal for SeaTac City Council Position 4
Hannah Hedrick for Tukwila City Council Position 3
Devin Rydel Kelly for Pierce County Charter Review Commission
We’re Hiring!
TRU’s long-time leader, Katie Wilson, will be leaving her role by the end of this year. We are excited to begin the process of hiring for a new full-time staff position!* You can find all the details here. Please apply if you are interested, and share widely.
* A little more context: Katie has long held two official positions in TRU. She’s been our General Secretary, serving as an elected officer (and board member), a position similar to president. And she’s been our Campaign Coordinator, a paid staff role responsible for working with the membership and with allies to carry out TRU’s campaigns and projects. Together these roles have been much like an executive director position at a more traditional nonprofit. Moving forward, we are separating the (volunteer) elected role from the paid staff role, but also want to recognize that the paid staff role includes many responsibilities beyond coordinating campaigns. For that reason, we are calling the new role General Manager (if Metro has one, why can’t we?).
Take our Transit Benefits Survey
Transit Riders Union is conducting two surveys about transit benefits. We’ve got one survey focused on commuters (people who work in Seattle) and another for people living in affordable or subsidized housing in Seattle.
Our results will inform our advocacy to make public transit more affordable and accessible to workers, lower-income riders, and residents of subsidized housing. Participants will be entered in a drawing for a $100 ORCA card.
2025 Primary Election Endorsements
TRU’s membership has made the following endorsements for the August 5, 2025 primary election. If we make further endorsements we will add them to this page.
Katie Wilson for Seattle Mayor
Alexis Mercedes Rinck for Seattle City Council Position 8
Dionne Foster for Seattle City Council Position 9
Jamie Fackler for Seattle City Council Position 2
Rory O’Sullivan for Seattle City Attorney
Claudia Balducci and Girmay Zahilay for King County Executive
Andrew Reding for Bellingham City Council Ward 6
Brittany Miles for Bothell City Council Position 5
Hugo Garcia for Burien City Council Position 1
Sam Mendez and Rashell Lisowski for Burien City Council Position 3
Sarah Moore for Burien City Council Position 5
Rocco DeVito for Burien City Council Position 7
Nigel Herbig for Kenmore City Council Position 4
Kurt Dresner for Kirkland City Council Position 7
Josh Rosenau for Lake Forest Park City Council Position 3
Josh Binda for Lynnwood City Council Position 3
Paul Charbonneau for Newcastle City Council Position 6
Michael Westgaard for Renton City Council Position 1
Carmen Rivera for Renton City Council Position 2
Paul Dutton for Renton City Council Position 6
Caitlin Konya for SeaTac City Council Position 2
Mohamed Egal for SeaTac City Council Position 4
Hannah Hedrick for Tukwila City Council Position 3
Krysteena Mann for Tukwila City Council Position 7
Devin Rydel Kelly for Pierce County Charter Review Commission
Raise the Wage Burien is on the ballot February 11
The November election might be over, but the February 11th special election is coming fast, and there are two critical local measures on the ballot. One is TRU-endorsed Seattle Prop 1A to fund social housing. The other is in Burien, where voters will vote on raising the minimum wage. For the past two years TRU has been coordinating the Raise the Wage Burien coalition, which ran the citizen’s initiative that brought this measure to the ballot. Whether you live in Burien or elsewhere in King County or Washington State, the outcome of this vote matters for you, because what happens in Burien will set a precedent that other cities could follow.
Last year, a majority of the Burien city council passed a business-backed ordinance that pretends to raise the minimum wage but actually excludes most low-wage workers. Our Initiative Measure #1 will fix the problems with the City’s law. Check out this brand new analysis by the Economic Opportunity Institute, and The Urbanist’s endorsement of Initiative Measure 1.
Corporate opponents and some city officials are doing their best to confuse Burien voters. We have to set the record straight and win. If we fail, industry-backed elected officials in other cities may follow Burien’s lead and pass Swiss Cheese minimum wage laws (full of holes!) to prevent residents and workers from winning real ones.
Ballots will be mailed to Burien voters on January 22nd, and we need your help. Every dollar donated will help us reach two voters to counter the misinformation they’re hearing from the opposition. You can also join us knocking on doors, making phone calls, and writing letters to voters. Visit RaiseTheWageBurien.org to learn more.
2024 Year In Review
It’s been quite a year for TRU. The Raise the Wage movement we launched in Tukwila just three years ago has been spreading steadily across Washington State; we made strides here in King County with a big win in unincorporated areas, including Skyway and White Center, and hard-earned progress in Burien as we gear up for the ballot next February. We won victories for transit riders and advanced or defended renter protections in several jurisdictions. We fought against austerity budgeting in Seattle, and our camp outreach team continued supporting our unhoused neighbors.
TRU the Wormhole: Join us at our end-of-year event!
It’s official — the TRU End of Year Party will be happening this year on Wednesday, Dec. 4th! We’ll be at a venue in Columbia City for an evening of celebration, community, and fundraising to support TRU’s work. Members attend for free, and tickets for non-members start at $25. RSVP here, and bring your friends and family!
We had so much fun last year with TRU in Space that we decided to double down on the intergalactic theme with TRU the Wormhole, celebrating all the new transit openings that have happened this year. Transit-themed costumes encouraged though not required. We will be celebrating not just transit but all the progress TRU has made in 2024, including winning a highest-in-the-nation minimum wage for workers across unincorporated King County, and qualifying for the Feb. 2025 ballot in Burien. And much more!
It’s going to be a great party, so get yer tickets now! If you can’t join us you can still contribute toward our $25,000 fundraising goal. (Prefer to donate by check? You can always mail one to P.O. Box 20723, Seattle 98102.) TRU accomplishes a lot with a little and we need your generous support to remain the feisty, independent, winning grassroots union you know and love.
Spooky Things are Happening in Burien
Trick or Treat! Burien City Council has been hard at work trying to trick voters and workers, but we’ll have a treat on the ballot in February. Join us for an update and planning meeting Wednesday, November 13th at 6pm. We’ll cover the changes council has made to their ordinance and discuss what’s next on our to-do list to get a real minimum wage law passed. Join the Zoom here or join by phone by dialing 253-205-0468, Meeting ID 826 2479 4070, Passcode 679395.
Next February, Burien voters will have a chance to vote to raise the minimum wage to match nearby jurisdictions like Tukwila, Renton, White Center, and Seattle. TRU has been helping to lead the Raise the Wage Burien campaign because we can’t let Burien set a bad precedent. Earlier this year, a majority of the council passed a business-supported law that they claim raises the minimum wage. But it’s a trick! Here’s why:
2024 General Election Endorsements
At our September Membership Meeting, TRU reaffirmed or made the following endorsements:
Seattle
- Alexis Mercedes Rinck for Seattle City Council Position 8
- YES on Seattle Prop 1 (Keep Seattle Moving): TRU urges Seattle voters to vote YES on the 2024 Seattle Transportation Levy. This is not the levy of our dreams. We are disappointed that the council voted down Councilmember Morales’ proposal to increase the levy’s size to $1.7 billion to invest more in multimodal infrastructure, and we are disappointed that it represents a reduced annual investment in public transit infrastructure compared to the expiring levy. We also wish the City would work harder to seek more progressive revenue sources than the property tax. However, the package has been significantly improved from its initial version thanks to the collective efforts of transportation advocates. Additional funding was won for sidewalk construction and repair, bike safety, neighborhood-initiated safety projects, Vision Zero improvements to Seattle’s most dangerous streets, and a new “people streets and public spaces” program. We believe that on balance this levy should be approved so that the City can move forward with these urgent investments, while we continue to push for more rapid expansion of public transit and a shift away from a car-centered transportation system.
Washington Statewide Initiatives
- NO on I-2066: Let’s keep moving forward on clean energy!
- NO on I-2109: Retain the capital gains tax on wealthy households and better fund our schools
- NO on I-2117: Save the Climate Commitment Act & its funds for public transit, including free transit for youth!
- NO on I-2124: Reject this attempt to repeal the Washington Cares Fund and cut off access to long-term care.
Congressional and State Legislative Races
- Shaun Scott for 43rd Legislative District Position 2
- Melissa Demyan for 45th Legislative District Position 2
- Devin Rydel Kelly for 27th Legislative District Position 2
- Melissa Chaudhry for Congressional District 9