mahalie, flickr

Yoseph Diallo’s dad is the one who encouraged him to look for work at Sea-Tac airport, based on stories his family had heard over the years about stable, good-paying jobs with decent benefits.

So the 19-year-old was happy to get a job last year as a “ramper,” handling and driving baggage from planes to other parts of the airport. But the reality turned out to be quite different than the reputation from years gone by.

A new report by Puget Sound Sage shows that ground service workers at Sea-Tac airport—the majority of whom are people of color, immigrants, and refugees—make substantially less than their counterparts at other West Coast airports, do not have paid sick leave and have filed numerous complaints with the state about poor training and unsafe working conditions.

From No Sick Leave = More Germs at Sea-Tac? by Jennifer Langston, Copyright Sightline Institute; used with permission.

The group includes cabin cleaners who disinfect tray tables and look for suspicious cargo left behind, wheelchair assistants who shuttle elderly travelers, skycaps and baggage handlers, and other ramp workers who perform functions such as guarding equipment, refueling planes and removing ice. On average, their minimum compensation at Sea-Tac is nearly $4 to $6 less than airport workers doing comparable jobs in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Jose and San Francisco.

These low-wage workers at Sea-Tac are overwhelmingly people of color, according to surveys that have shown the airport’s contractor workforce is only 36 percent white (compared with 64 percent for all of King County and 43 percent for all airport jobs). And the airport has become an employment magnet for newly arrived immigrants and refugees. As many as half of job applications come from transplants from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe.

On principle, everyone—especially people who have had to flee their home countries and may have little frame of reference for how things are supposed to work here—deserves fair working conditions. But this isn’t just about airport workers. It’s about anyone who boards a plane and the policies that shape whether the employees charged with protecting their health and safety are given the tools to do so.

caribb, flickr

It’s not just the germy kid sitting behind you

For people who are making barely above minimum wage, missing a day of work can mean the difference between making rent that month or not. The lack of paid sick time is a powerful incentive to go to work even when you’re ill, as Diallo has done. Those infected workers then touch the same baggage handles that people will grab straight off the conveyor belt. They can spread germs on tables that the next planeload of people will eat from. They may assist elderly people and others whose immune systems may be compromised.

Diallo, who works the overnight shift at Sea-Tac and attends Highline Community College, says it’s not just about losing the income when he’s sick. When he misses a shift, he says, a point is deducted from his attendance record. If he hits 16 points, Diallo says he’s been told he’ll be fired.

It’s just so hard. It’s really hard. I want to stay home and rest up and try to make sure I don’t get anyone else sick, and I end up having to go to work because I’m afraid to stand up to my managers and tell them my situation. They seem to just not want to listen.

Diallo doesn’t work for the Port of Seattle (which operates Sea-Tac) or Alaska Airlines, whose bags he handles. He works for one of the many contractors that have become increasingly important to Sea-Tac’s operation as the airport and airlines have sought to cut labor costs. For instance, when Alaska Airlines outsourced its ramp operations to Menzies Aviation in 2005, the average wage for those workers fell by more than $5 an hour, according to Puget Sound Sage.

In November of last year, more than 50 workers who perform ground-based services for a variety of contractors filed complaints with the Washington Department of Labor and Industries. They include allegations of exposure to toxic chemicals, denial of bathroom breaks or access to water, exposure to faulty fueling equipment, and lack of training. Here’s a quote from one complaint filed by a wheelchair attendant:

If a passenger was to [relieve him or herself] in my chair, I would just take it to the restroom and clean it with napkins and soap and then continue to use my chair, management has never told me what to do with that chair. I have no gloves or spray to use so I would clean it with my hands in the restroom.

How Sea-Tac stacks up

So are these shortcuts inevitable as airlines are dreaming up new fees and cutting costs wherever possible? The report makes a persuasive case that the answer is no, especially when you compare Sea-Tac to other West Coast airports that provide living wages, health insurance incentives, worker retention programs, paid time off, and training standards for comparable workers.

(Click on graphic to embiggen)

For example, the city of Los Angeles several years ago became concerned about sick leave policies that could contribute to germ “superspreading” at its airport and the public cost of airport workers with no health insurance. So in 2009, it extended its living wage ordinance to airport workers that requires:

• 12 paid days off and 10 unpaid days off annually
• A minimum wage of $15.37, with a credit of $4.67 towards the total if the employer provides health benefits
• Worker retention in the event the airport or airlines replace one contracting firm with another for the same function

Similarly, the city of San Francisco more than a decade ago passed standards that established a minimum living wage for airport ground service workers, access to health insurance and training designed to attract and retain a quality workforce. An analysis three years later showed that employee turnover fell by 60%, employees reported working harder and faster, and employers saw a decrease in grievances and absenteeism.

In Oakland, it was the voters themselves who overwhelmingly (by 78%) approved a ballot measure to create a living wage and other labor standards for airport and seaport businesses.

So, there appear to be multiple ways to take the lead on setting workforce standards for airport employees. And workers like Diallo are optimistic that conditions there can improve, if people want them to. As he puts it:

I love working at the airport. There are so many interesting people. It’s international, and you never know who you might meet there. But I feel like we’re not being respected at the job that we do. If we take the time and actually try to stand up to these guys and tell them how we feel and what is needed to be done in order to make every airport job a good job, I think we can make that happen.

Update: Sightline contacted the Port of Seattle, which owns Sea-Tac, and Alaska Airlines, the airport’s dominent carrier, for responses to Puget Sound Sage’s report. The port declined to comment at this time. Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Bobbie Egan provided this statement late in the day and emphasized that the company employs nearly 13,000 people who earn almost $1 billion a year in wages and benefits, with nearly half of those people working in the Seattle area:

Alaska Airlines partners with vendors that focus on safety and provide quality services at competitive pricing for entry-level jobs. Our focus is to offer our customers safe, reliable and affordable air travel while continuing to grow our business and create more jobs within Alaska Airlines and at our partner vendors. Although we do not dictate the wages our contractors pay their employees, we do understand the importance of having a strong local economy that provides plentiful, good-paying jobs. The most effective way Alaska Airlines can contribute to this goal is to make decisions that ensure our company thrives and continues to provide careers and financial security for thousands of employees and their families.

CLASP researchers spoke with employees in the Seattle Office for Civil Rights (SOCR) to learn how they were handling implementation of the law in a way that balances business concerns and worker protection. From CLASP:

The city has launched a thoughtful and creative implementation and outreach strategy that has been attentive to business needs, spread the word about the law to diverse groups of Seattle workers and employers, and provided an unparalleled level of technical assistance to employers seeking to comply with the law.

Now, CLASP has released an issue brief that draws on the experience of SOCR staff that delineates best practices and provides a framework for other cities to move forward with implementation of paid sick days laws. Read the full brief here >>

One of many Grand Central Bakery locations in Portland, OR and Seattle, WA. Grand Central has provided paid sick days for workers for over 20 years!

In the recent dust-up over a local coffee shop’s signs about (and surcharge for) paid sick days, you might have missed this, from the owners of Grand Central Bakery:

…paid sick leave amounts to a relatively small thing for an employer translating to a relatively huge thing for a sick employee. For more than 20 years, we have provided paid sick days to our employees (along with health and dental insurance and vacation time). From that vantage point, we can say the benefits are many – high morale, healthier employees and customers, low employee turnover. Most significantly it creates a culture of trust.

Employees who feel supported by ownership find ways to improve the operations in that restaurant, they are willing to work harder during crunch times and they conduct themselves in the workplace with honesty and integrity. And we venture to guess that employee theft and giving out free product is a much bigger threat to the financial health of a restaurant than the impact of paid sick leave. As Matt Dillon says, you build it into the cost of running a restaurant. And we do so happily, because it’s the right thing to do. ~Leslie Cole, Grand Central Bakery communications manager

Today would be a great day to stop by your local Grand Central Bakery – there are several locations in Seattle and Portland. Grab a loaf of fresh bread (or a sandwich, pastry, salad…you get the idea) and let the manager kn0w how much you appreciate Grand Central’s great business model.

Cyrus the Virus urges lawmakers to join his cause against virus-killing legislation like paid sick days. From left to right: Sen. Michael Baumgartner (R-Spokane), Sen. Rodney Tom (D-Medina), Cyrus the Virus, Sen. Mark Schoesler (R-Pullman). This photo isn’t real – but Senators Tom and Schoesler really are sponsoring legislation to repeal Seattle’s landmark paid sick days law.

The Seattle Times reports majority coalition leader Sen. Rodney Tom (D-Medina) and five other state senators* have introduced legislation designed to gut Seattle’s paid sick and safe days law:

• Senate Bill 5726, a.k.a. “the Burger King exemption”, prohibits any local paid sick/safe leave law from applying to people who work for employers headquartered outside of that particular city, town or county. That would, of course, make it ridiculously easy for big businesses to get out of providing paid sick or safe leave.

• Senate Bill 5728, a.k.a. “we know better than you”, preempts any locality from passing any law pertaining to paid sick/safe leave that exceeds state standards. Since there is no state standard, Seattle’s law would effectively be kaput – as would any future effort by local citizens to pass a similar local measure.

Seattle’s sick days law was passed by an 8-1 vote of the Seattle City Council. Reflecting broad public support for the measure, Councilmembers received thousands of emails, postcards and phone calls in favor; a poll of Seattle voters found 69% supported the legislation. Now, a handful of state senators – none of whom represent Seattle constituents – are attempting to undermine Seattle’s democratic process and silence the will of the people.

Their action also flies in the face of long-established state law: since 1967, Washington has specifically authorized cities to perform any function not specifically denied them in the state constitution or by state law. That includes paid sick and safe leave – but not if these legislators have their way.

Think it can’t happen here? Think again. A few years back, Milwaukee voters approved a paid sick days law with 69% of the vote. Following a protracted lawsuit by Milwaukee’s Chamber of Commerce, Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled legislature and Gov. Scott Walker preempted the law with legislation much like Sen. Tom’s, written by the corporate front group ALEC:

PR Watch obtained documents from ALEC’s 2011 Annual Meeting showing that one of the group’s committees — the Labor and Business Regulation Subcommittee of the Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force — focused its entire meeting on the issue of paid sick leave. Task force members, who are legislators, were given copies of a bill that enables state legislatures to override municipal paid sick days laws. The same bill was used in Wisconsinto override Milwaukee’s paid sick days requirement.

*Senators Braun (R-Centralia), Bailey (R-Whidbey Island), Schoesler (R-Pullman), Padden (R-Spokane Valley), and Benton (R-Outer Vancouver) are also sponsoring the two bills.

Dr. Mary King,
Professor of Economics

Portland State University economics professor Mary King and 13 co-signatories have written a letter of support for the city’s mandatory sick leave proposal.

Introduced as testimony as part of a raucous public hearing yesterday, the letter argues that the costs of extending paid sick days to employees are quite small, especially when compared to the benefits of reduced turnover, increased productivity and better workplace health.

The mandatory sick leave issue hasdivided the business community in Portland.

King’s letter, which contains 19 footnotes, makes reference to studies conducted in the state of Connecticut and the City of San Francisco, where recent laws have required private employers to provide paid sick leave to all employees. According to these studies, the cost of mandatory sick leave to employers in Connecticut added up to less than .2 percent in annual sales, while in San Francisco six of seven employers said they experienced no negative impact from the sick leave law.

The letter also makes reference to the costs of “presenteeism,” the cost of employees coming to work while sick and infecting their co-workers. According to the Society of Human Resources Management, presenteeism costs employers about $180 billion per year nationally.

King argues that the United States is the only developed nation in the world that does not require employers to offer paid sick leave to workers, creating disproportionate hardship for low-income families. According to the Economic Policy Institute, employees who lack paid sick leave earn on average $10 per hour.

King’s 13 co-signatories all work at universities or colleges in Oregon or Washington.

The City Council does not plan to vote on the proposal until the end of February at the earliest.

Licata joined other progressive leaders like Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Rep. Tammy Baldwin, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, and Montana A.G. Steve Bullock, on the list.

From The Nation:

“…Licata has practiced local politics since 1998 as a bold advocate of progressive populist ideas. He was a sponsor of Seattle’s innovative paid-sick-leave law, and he’s been in the forefront of fights to prevent corporations and wealthy sports team owners from gouging taxpayers.”

Congratulations to Nick on winning the award!

In this episode of the Seattle Channel’s City Inside/Out, Cupcake Royale founder Jody Hall and Seattle restaurateur John Schmidt offer their thoughts, and Marilyn Watkins of the Economic Opportunity Institute addresses how other cities have fared after adopting a similar law.

Ffor more perspective, Mike Chin, Enforcement Manager of the Seattle Office of Civil Rights, George Allen, Senior Vice President of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, and Joe Fugere, Founder of Tutta Bella join City Inside/Out host Brian Callanan in studio.