$15 for airport workers? Supreme Court considers

When SeaTac voters passed a $15-minimum wage initiative last year, many assumed it would cover airport workers. Not so fast, said the Port of Seattle and companies like Alaska Airlines. And a lower court has sided with the port: Under state law, the port argues it has exclusive jurisdiction over the airport, making any citywide ordinance on minimum wage null.The City of SeaTac and proponents of the $15 initiative today argued their case in an appeal to the state Supreme Court: The city has the power to enact labor rules at the airport, as long as the rules don’t impede operations. “No one thinks that requiring a subcontractor to pay a living wage to its workers has a substantial, material effect on the operation of its airport, ” said Dmitri Iglitzin, lawyer for SeaTac Committee for Good Jobs, which supports the ordinance. Harry Korrell III, attorney for Filo Foods and the companies contesting the ordinance, said that various labor rules folded into the new law essentially “[tie] employers hands behind their backs” during bargaining.There’s no deadline for a court decision. — M.L.