Unless I overlooked it, Hannah omitted the fact the Downtown Dog Lounge employees have been paying for advertising space in the Stanger recently. There were some fake articles earlier this week, and there's currently an add within the comments section as well.

1: So much for the old firewalls between advertising and news. I guess the owner should just pay for their own advertising here, and the articles will follow.

These doggie puns are a bit infantilizing, no? Good on the employees for demanding respect from their employer, anyway.

Staffing levels are a legit concern for both worker and client/dog safety and welfare, but expecting to make more than $52,000 a year as a full-time dog-sitter is unrealistic.

Sure, that’s below 60% of Seattle area median income - but that AMI is greatly skewed by highly-educated white-collar professionals in tech, aerospace, biotech, etc.

They’re making at least minimum wage - and if dog-sitting isn’t a low-skilled minimum wage job, I don’t know what is.

This has got to be one of the most Seattle problems of all time. Only in a city where human beings value the life of a dog over fellow human beings does this shit happen. That mentality actually explains many problems in this city. God forbid some pooches are a little too hot or cold.

So the moral here is that forming a union doesn’t automatically ensure all your demands are met if your demands are not reasonable for the business to operate.

Crazy that this biz owner is going through this. If you want to make more money walking dogs start your own business. This will essentially force the owner either out of business or to raise prices on her customers which will lower business which will lead to cut backs. If you want to live in the city you gotta make the money! How is this lost on people? Never in my 20s did I expect I could afford to live in the hippest part of town making $20 an hour.

I will say if someone working as a handler in the dog parks is making $52,000 a year kudos to them. I worked myself to the bone for this company as a manager of the south lake union location and barely made that working 60+ hours a week and being available to the owner almost every hour of everyday and helping her manage other locations.

and when AI takes over
Bezos's bots're walking them
dawgs teaching your Kids (SO
Much Cheaper!) & boning your
Wife -- what then shall these in-
dustrious young go-getters Do for
an Income? sell organs for the Rent?

but
all that
Shite's WAY
Off in the Future!

not to Worry

@9

or just Move:

$ -- one kidney:
TWO Years Free Rent!

$ -- Liver:
lifetime free-rent

organs just seem
to go Further
in Wichita

@1: It's the Stranger's new business model: pay us, or we post articles critical of your business. ;-)

Every time I hear "market rate" come out of someone's mouth they're explaining why my rent is getting higher or why my pay isn't. Dog whistle for a greedy p.o.s.
If you can't expect someone taking care of your dogs to make more than low-income level on the AMI, then maybe Seattleites don't need their dogs cared for? That AMI determines the rents and price of basic needs...so it matters where someone is on that scale.

More entitlement. We did a terrible job raising the last generation. They all think they deserve a new two bedroom apartment in the nicest part of town working 30 hours a week.