First Class Airport, Poverty Wage Jobs
How the Port of Seattle and Alaska Airlines create prosperity for some and economic hardship for others.
May 2012 - Community leaders joined with Sea-Tac Airport workers to release a report that reveals poverty wage conditions for many of the estimated 2,800 airline-contracted workers at Sea-Tac Airport – wheelchair agents, fuelers, baggage handlers, cargo workers, cabin cleaners, skycaps and others.
Researchers for the authoring organizations spent months investigating the working conditions of airline-contracted employees at SeaTac. They concluded that Alaska Airlines, which contracts with different companies for these services, and the Port of Seattle, the local government agency that owns and operates SeaTac, are ultimately responsible for the poverty wage jobs.
The report outlines recommendations that Alaska Airlines and the Port of Seattle should take to ensure that all Sea-Tac airport jobs are good jobs.
