Reuters

When union-backed fast-food workers began striking to demand a $15 hourly wage earlier this year, I think a lot people had more or less the same question: what's the point? After all, our labor laws make organizing a chain like McDonald's or Wendy's close to impossible, and the chances of any given company caving into their demands thanks to PR pressure were slim to none.

One answer was that the strikes weren't really about pressing companies or traditional organizing. Rather, they were the start of a campaign meant to encourage higher minimum wage laws across the country.

This week, we may well be seeing some of their impact in Seattle.

At $9.19 an hour, Washington already claims highest state minimum wage in the country. But in Seattle, that misty, arabica-scented liberal stronghold, both mayoral candidates in the upcoming election now say they would support pushing the city's minimum to the magic $15 threshold. At least in theory. Challenger Ed Murray jumped on the idea first, with a plan that would start by raising wages for city workers and contractors, then eventually phase in large retailers and fast-food chains. After initially dismissing the proposal as mostly talk, sitting mayor Mike McGinn told the Associated Press that $15 was a "fair starting point" to consider for raising the minimum, and that if the city council voted for an even higher figure, he'd approve it.