"SeaTac $15 minimum wage winning in early vote count"

[applegrove]

SeaTac $15 minimum wage winning in early vote count

By MIKE BAKER Associated Press

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/15-SeaTac-minimum-wage-winning-in-early-vote-count-230764221.html

"SNIP...........................


SEATTLE (AP) - A national push to create a $15 minimum wage found a new source of momentum Tuesday as an initiative on the issue built an early lead in the airport city of SeaTac.

An early vote count Tuesday showed the measure carrying 54 percent of the vote. Because Washington state votes entirely by mail, more ballots are left to count.

The campaign in SeaTac drew national attention from both labor unions and business groups, with the two sides combining to spend $1.8 million - enough money to hire every registered voter in the city for a day at $15 per hour.

The proposal requires a $15 minimum wage for many workers in and around Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. It follows a series of summertime rallies in which fast food workers and others around the country called attention to their struggle to earn a living.



...........................SNIP"

[freshwest]

1. Great News! Follows this recent labor victory:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11173757

And this one, too, came with a cost but will be a great boon to the state's job picture:

Boeing and union have tentative deal that would site 777X in Everett

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10822571

[liberal_at_heart]

2. Just having a job is not good enough if you can't take care of yourself and your family.

Boeing is systematically dismantling the Boeing union.

[liberal_at_heart]

3. The one and only time you will probably ever hear me say it's not enough but it will do.

$15/hour is not enough for a living wage. I'd much rather see $18/hr or $20/hr. But $15/hr is a pretty big jump from $9.19/hr. Much better than the nickle and dime raises minimum wage usually gets.

[Coyotl]

4. $120 per registered voter spent on this campaign alone.

Must be a rather important bell weather.

[garf]

5. Why are union workshops exempt from SeaTac's $15 minimum wage law?

I don't understand. It was unions who got this law passed in the first place. Why are union workshops exempt from it?


http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-no-calamity-yet-as-seatac-wash-adjusts-to-15-minimum-wage/2014/09/05/d12ba922-3503-11e4-9e92-0899b306bbea_story.html

"Those who opposed the $15 wage in SeaTac and Seattle admit there has been no calamity so far. Paul Guppy, vice president for research at the free-market Washington Policy Center, said SeaTac is a “boutique” case because of its size. Airport workers have been left out for now because of a lawsuit, and union workplaces are exempt, so only about 1,600 got raises."