Ballot measure to enact $15 minimum wage near Seattle wins narrow victory

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Ballot measure to enact $15 minimum wage near Seattle wins narrow victory

BY JONATHAN KAMINSKY
OLYMPIA, Washington Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:04pm EST

(Reuters) - A voter initiative to enact a $15 minimum wage for thousands of workers in a Seattle suburb that houses the region's main international airport won a narrow victory on Tuesday that proponents hailed as a signal moment in the nationwide fight for livable wages.

The measure mandates that some 6,300 workers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and nearby hotels, car rental agencies and parking lots receive a minimum hourly wage more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25.

Washington state's hourly minimum wage is already higher than any other U.S. state, and will rise by 13 cents to $9.32 an hour in January. The new wage in the city of SeaTac would be among the nation's highest, just below a $15.38 rate mandated for city workers and contractors in Sonoma, California.

Backers of the SeaTac wage ordinance see it as an opportunity to help local workers while encouraging other communities - particularly cities with progressive tendencies and smaller voting pools - to take similar action.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/27/us-usa-washingtonstate-wage-idUSBRE9AQ03D20131127

[Heather MC]

1. "It is taking money from one pocket and putting it in another."

And that's how they really feel. Paying someone a living wage, is comparable to stealing. MAKES one wonder, how little they would pay if there wasn't a minimum wage in place. Hmmmm

[Laelth]

2. k&r for labor. n/t

-Laelth

[leftstreet]

3. DURec