Union organizers are counting on it big time in Washington state.
A small suburban Washington city of 27,000 has recently taken center stage in the national debate over living wages. Voters in the City of SeaTac will soon decide on Proposition 1, a ballot initiative to establish perhaps the most draconian employment standards in the nation, complete with a $15 minimum wage requirement.
Labor leaders are thrilled, and it’s not hard to see why: Labor support of Prop 1 appears to be part of a growing trend to promote union organizing through local ballot initiatives.
Though small in terms of geography and population, the City of SeaTac is economically significant because it hosts Sea-Tac International Airport and surrounding travel and hospitality businesses.
Prop 1’s roots go back to 2005, when Alaska Airlines replacedunionized baggage handlers with non-union contractors. Six years later, Unite Here Local 8, the hospitality workers union, spent historic amounts of money to successfully finance three city council elections.
Local unions are now marching in lockstep behind Prop 1. So far, labor unions have provided 95 percent of the campaign resources supporting the initiative — over $1.2 million, according to the statePublic Disclosure Commission. While the labor-backed campaign has decried the influence of “deep-pocketed greedy big corporations,” unions have outspent businesses 2-1, making Big Labor the biggest special interest in SeaTac.
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