Item Number:        10c_reso 
1                                                                                  Meeting Date:     July 27, 2021 
2                                                PORT OF SEATTLE 
3                                             RESOLUTION NO. 3789 
4 
5              A RESOLUTION of  the  Port  Commission  of  the  Port  of  Seattle  to  enact 
6                                        minimum   wage   and   worker   retention   requirements 
7                                        applicable to certain employers located at Seattle-Tacoma
8                                        International Airport, pursuant to the authority granted to
9                                        the Port under RCW 14.08.120(2). 
10 
11            WHEREAS, the voters of King County authorized and approved the formation of a port
12    district coextensive with King County to be known as the Port of Seattle in a special election on
13    September 5, 1911; and 
14 
15            WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle was established upon election as a port district and has
16    been since then, and is now, a duly authorized and acting port district of the state of Washington;
17    and 
18 
19            WHEREAS, the Port Commission is the legally-constituted governing body of the Port of
20    Seattle; and 
21 
22            WHEREAS, in accordance with RCW 14.08.030, the Port of Seattle owns and operates
23    Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (the "Airport"); and 
24 
25            WHEREAS, RCW 14.08.120(1)(b) authorizes the Port of Seattle to adopt and amend all
26    needed rules and regulations for the management, government, and use of airports and air
27    navigation facilities under its control, including the Airport; and 
28 
29            WHEREAS, RCW 14.08.120(2)(a) provides that a municipality that controls or operates
30    an airport having had more than twenty million annual commercial air service passenger
31    enplanements on average over the most recent seven full calendar years that is located within the
32    boundaries of a city that has passed a local law or ordinance setting a minimum labor standard that
33    applies to certain employers operating or providing goods and services at the airport is authorized
34    to enact a minimum labor standard that applies to employees working at the airport, so long as the
35    minimum labor standard at least meets the minimum labor standard in the city's law or ordinance;
36    and 
37 
38            WHEREAS, RCW 14.08.120(2)(b) provides that a municipality's authority to establish a
39    minimum labor standard pursuant to (a) of this subsection may be imposed only on employers that
40    are excluded from the minimum labor standard established by such city because the type of good
41    or service provided by the employer is expressly excluded in the text of the city's law or ordinance;
42    and 
43 
44            WHEREAS, the Airport has had more than twenty million annual commercial air service
45    passenger enplanements on average over the most recent seven full calendar years (2014-2020);
46    and 

Resolution 3789, Minimum Labor Standards for Certain Employers at Airport                           Page 1 of 4

47 
48 
49            WHEREAS, in 2013, voters in the City of SeaTac enacted Proposition 1 ("Prop 1") 
50    (Ch. 7.45 SMC), which established a number of separate minimum labor standards for certain
51    categories of employers located in the City of SeaTac; and 
52 
53            WHEREAS, the Airport is located within the boundaries of the City of SeaTac; and 
54 
55            WHEREAS, one minimum labor standard included by Prop 1 is the establishment of a
56    minimum wage for certain categories of employers operating in the City of SeaTac; and 
57 
58            WHEREAS, Prop 1 set the initial minimum wage to be imposed on covered employers at
59    $15.00 per hour beginning on January 1, 2015, subject to adjustment on January 1 of every
60    subsequent year to keep pace with the rate of inflation (SMC 7.45.050); and 
61 
62            WHEREAS, the Prop 1 minimum wage for 2021 is $16.57 per hour; and 
63 
64            WHEREAS, Prop 1 also established a worker retention minimum labor standard for 
65    certain categories of employers operating in the City of SeaTac, in certain circumstances 
66    (SMC 7.45.060); and 
67 
68            WHEREAS, in Filo Foods, LLC v. City of SeaTac, 183 Wn.2d 770, 357 P.3d 1040 (2015),
69    the Washington Supreme Court held that Prop 1 applies to employer categories covered by Prop 1
70    located at the Airport; and 
71 
72            WHEREAS, employers within the scope of Prop 1 who operate at the Airport currently
73    are required to pay Prop 1-level wages and comply with Prop 1's worker retention requirement;
74    and 
75 
76            WHEREAS, Prop 1 expressly excludes certain types of employers from its scope based
77    on the type of goods or services they provide, including employers that prepare food or beverage
78    to be served in-flight by an airline (SMC 7.45.010(G)); and 
79 
80            WHEREAS,  pursuant  to  the  authority  specifically  granted  to  the  Port  under 
81    RCW 14.08.120(2)(b), the Port seeks to enact minimum wage and worker retention requirements 
82    to apply to those employers that are expressly excluded from Prop 1's scope in the text of the
83    ordinance because they engage in the preparation of food or beverage to be served in-flight by an
84    airline; and 
85 
86            WHEREAS, pursuant to RCW 14.08.120(2)(d), any such minimum wage and worker
87    retention requirements imposed by the Port of Seattle will apply only to covered employers that 
88    provide goods or services at the Airport from facilities that are located on property owned by the
89    Port of Seattle within the boundaries of the City of SeaTac; and 
90 
91            WHEREAS, imposing minimum wage and worker retention requirements on employers
92    who were expressly excluded in the text of Prop 1 because of the type of good or service the

Resolution 3789, Minimum Labor Standards for Certain Employers at Airport                           Page 2 of 4

93    employer provides is necessary and convenient, and in the best interests and for the benefit of the
94    Port of Seattle, the affected employees, and the public; and 
95 
96            WHEREAS, consistent with RCW 14.08.120(2)(c), any minimum wage and worker
97    retention requirement enacted by the Port of Seattle will not apply to employers at the Airport who
98    were excluded from Prop 1 because they are a certificated air carrier performing services for itself
99    or based on the employer's size or number of employees; and 
100 
101            WHEREAS, it is the Commission's intent that the minimum wage and worker retention
102    requirements enacted by this Resolution will at least meet the minimum wage and worker retention
103    requirements set forth in Prop 1 for employers covered by the ordinance. 
104 
105        NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Port Commission of the Port of Seattle
106    that the following minimum labor standards are hereby enacted: 
107 
108        1.  Employers that provide goods or services at the Airport and are engaged in the preparation
109            of food or beverage to be served in-flight by an airline from facilities that are located on
110            property owned by the Port of Seattle within the City of SeaTac shall pay their employees
111            a wage that at least meets the hourly minimum wage established by Prop 1. 
112 
113        2.  The minimum wage required to be paid under this Resolution shall be adjusted for inflation
114            on the same schedule that the minimum wage set forth in Prop 1 is adjusted, so that the
115            minimum wage required to be paid by an employer under this Resolution continuously at
116            least meets the minimum wage amount required by Prop 1. 
117 
118        3.  Employers subject to this Resolution shall be required to begin paying the minimum wage
119            set forth herein no later than August 2, 2021 (the "Implementation Date"). 
120 
121        4.  Employers that provide goods or services at the Airport and are engaged in the preparation
122            of food or beverage to be served in-flight by an airline from facilities that are located on
123            property owned by the Port of Seattle within the City of SeaTac shall comply with a worker
124            retention requirement that at least meets the worker retention requirement established by
125            Prop 1. 
126 
127        5.  This worker retention requirement shall become effective on the Implementation Date. 
128 
129        6.  The Managing Director of the Aviation Division of the Port of Seattle is authorized and
130            directed to promulgate and administer Rules and Regulations to carry out the provisions of
131            this Resolution. The Rules and Regulations must be consistent with state and federal law
132            and this Resolution.
133 
134 
135 
136 
137 
138 

Resolution 3789, Minimum Labor Standards for Certain Employers at Airport                           Page 3 of 4

139        ADOPTED by the Port Commission of the Port of Seattle, at a duly noticed meeting held this 
140             day of ______________, 2021, and duly authenticated in open session by the signatures
141    of the Commissioners voting in favor thereof and the seal of the commission. 
142 
143 
144 
145 
146 
147 
148 
149 
150 
151 
152 
153                                                    Port of Seattle Commission














Resolution 3789, Minimum Labor Standards for Certain Employers at Airport                           Page 4 of 4