May 21, 2026

WHEREAS, massage workers in King County are majority Chinese, immigrant, women, non-English speaking, and low income, and face institutional burdens to live a dignified life due to challenging government licensing requirements, language barriers, sexual harassment from customers, and lack of affordable and safe housing and transportation;

WHEREAS, the Massage Parlor Organizing Project (MPOP) has conducted years of organizing and outreach to hundreds of Asian massage workers in Washington state and partners with community organizations, including Puget Sound Sage and APALA (AFL-CIO), Seattle chapter;

WHEREAS, the Asian massage industry includes workers who both do and do not participate in sex work, and includes workers who are employed on their own free will and are not trafficked;

WHEREAS, in April and May 2026, various King and Pierce County police agencies and fire departments conducted raids of over 50 Asian massage parlors as part of a cross-agency anti-trafficking initiative, resulting in workers suddenly losing their jobs and, in some cases, stripping them of their belongings and losing access to their housing attached to the workplace;

WHEREAS, Washington State has a shameful racist history of targeting Chinese people and businesses in the use of the 1885 “Tacoma Method” that resulted in the expulsion of the Chinese community in Tacoma and Seattle;

WHEREAS, these harmful perceptions can be traced back to discriminatory laws such as the Page Act of 1875, which effectively prohibited the immigration of many Asian women under the false assumption that they were entering the United States for “immoral purposes,” reinforcing xenophobic and misogynistic stereotypes that continue to impact Asian women today; and

WHEREAS, raids on Asian massage parlors perpetuate anti-Asian sentiment, stigma and violence towards workers and Asian communities; for example, the horrific 2021 Atlanta spa shootings that left six Asian women workers dead;

WHEREAS, immigrant Asian massage workers face systemic barriers in the current massage licensure process that is extremely difficult to overcome; for example, the current massage licensure exam is not provided in Chinese, requires $13-17,000 and 625+ hours for training school, and does not account for the years of experience and cultural practice Asian massage workers have; resulting in racist exclusion of Asian massage workers from the industry; 

WHEREAS, requirements for language accommodations for Washington State massage licensure exams were removed in the 2012 SB 6103 Reflexology and Massage Therapy Section 10(4) legislation, following a period of anti-Asian stigmatization resulting in additional barriers for Asian massage workers to receive massage therapist licensure;

WHEREAS, MLK Labor exists to unify all labor organizations in King County to build power and strength for all workers, and one of the core responsibilities is raising the bar for all workers to live a dignified life;

WHEREAS, our labor movement has previously supported the rights of sex workers; for example, MLK Labor protested the city of Seattle’s SODA (Stay Out of Drug Area) and SOAP (Stay Out of Area of Prostitution) legislation, and Working WA led the passage of a state “Strippers’ Bill of Rights” in 2024;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that MLK Labor stands in solidarity with Asian massage workers organizing for a better future by signing onto the Massage Parlor Outreach Project’s #SafetyNotStigma campaign and sending letters to King County elected officials through the #NoRaidsForFiFA campaign;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that MLK Labor forward a copy of this resolution to the Washington State Labor Council and encourage it  to advocate for equitable access to existing state licensure and diversified certification processes for Asian massage workers to have safe and dignified work;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the MLK Labor advocate for workers’ rights, and public health-informed approaches, not raids, for Asian massage workers as strategies for preventing exploitation and trafficking.