Item Number:        10b_reso 
Meeting Date:     May 11, 2021 
1                                         RESOLUTION NO. 3789 
2 
3              A RESOLUTION of  the  Port  Commission  of  the  Port  of  Seattle  to  enact 
4                                        minimum   wage   and   worker   retention   requirements 
5                                        applicable to certain employers located at Seattle-Tacoma
6                                        International Airport, pursuant to the authority granted to
7                                        the Port under RCW 14.08.120(2). 
8 
9             WHEREAS, the voters of King County authorized and approved the formation of a port
10    district coextensive with King County to be known as the Port of Seattle in a special election on
11    September 5, 1911; and 
12 
13            WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle was established upon election as a port district and has
14    been since then, and is now, a duly authorized and acting port district of the state of Washington;
15    and 
16 
17            WHEREAS, the Port Commission is the legally-constituted governing body of the Port of
18    Seattle; and 
19 
20            WHEREAS, in accordance with RCW 14.08.030, the Port of Seattle owns and operates
21    Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (the "Airport"); and 
22 
23            WHEREAS, RCW 14.08.120(1)(b) authorizes the Port of Seattle to adopt and amend all
24    needed rules and regulations for the management, government, and use of airports and air
25    navigation facilities under its control, including the Airport; and 
26 
27            WHEREAS, RCW 14.08.120(2)(a) provides that a municipality that controls or operates
28    an airport having had more than twenty million annual commercial air service passenger
29    enplanements on average over the most recent seven full calendar years that is located within the
30    boundaries of a city that has passed a local law or ordinance setting a minimum labor standard that
31    applies to certain employers operating or providing goods and services at the airport is authorized
32    to enact a minimum labor standard that applies to employees working at the airport, so long as the
33    minimum labor standard meets, but does not exceed, the minimum labor standard in the city's law
34    or ordinance; and 
35 
36            WHEREAS, RCW 14.08.120(2)(b) provides that a municipality's authority to establish a
37    minimum labor standard pursuant to (a) of this subsection may be imposed only on employers that
38    are excluded from the minimum labor standard established by such city because the type of good
39    or service provided by the employer is expressly excluded in the text of the city's law or ordinance;
40    and 
41 
42            WHEREAS, the Airport has had more than twenty million annual commercial air service
43    passenger enplanements on average over the most recent seven full calendar years (2014-2020);
44    and 
45 
46 

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

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

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

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


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

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














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