Seattle’s hotel-workers measure passing

Seattle voters Tuesday night were approving a ballot measure that would grant new rights and benefits to hotel housekeepers.

Initiative 124 would require hotels to provide housekeepers with panic buttons, track guests accused of harassment, limit housekeeper workloads, help thousands of low-wage employees pay for health care and retain workers during ownership transfers, among other things.

The measure was passing with nearly 77 percent to about 23 percent.

The Unite Here! Local 8 hospitality-workers union, which wrote and advanced I-124, argued the measure would protect a work force of mostly immigrant women from sexual harassment and on-the-job injuries while helping them better provide for their families.

Opponents said I-124 is a complicated and unhelpful measure, and claim Local 8’s main aim is to make business more difficult for nonunionized hotels in Seattle.