Seattle agrees to raise minimum wage to $15

Serious

Serious

Veteran
Supporter
Joined
Apr 30, 2012
Messages
80,132
Reputation
14,309
Daps
190,856
Reppin
1st Round Playoff Exits
T-K-G said:
that's the main reason i'm never leaving the south permanently unless i leave the country completely :win: it's so easy to save money down here i dont understand why nikkas up north/out west dont look for work elsewhere

you can work at a random retail store and have enough bread to hold an apartment down by yourself
Click to expand...
:what: Because I don't dream of working for some random retail store....

 
DEAD7

DEAD7

Veteran
Supporter
Hall of Fame
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
50,945
Reputation
4,416
Daps
89,033
Reppin
Fresno, CA.
Serious said:
how Sea-Tac doing? :patrice:
Click to expand...
:ehh:
$15 wage floor slowly takes hold in SeaTac | Business & Technology | The Seattle Times

Six weeks after the new hourly minimum standard took effect at some hotels and parking lots in SeaTac, proponents and opponents alike say any evidence to gauge its impact is still anecdotal.

At the Clarion Hotel off International Boulevard, a sit-down restaurant has been shuttered, though it might soon be replaced by a less-labor-intensive cafe. The nearby Cedarbrook Lodge, by contrast, is undergoing a $16 million expansion.

Other businesses have adjusted in ways that run the gamut from putting more work in the hands of managers, to instituting a small “living-wage surcharge” for a daily parking space near the airport.

Meanwhile, workers are flocking to SeaTac to apply for minimum-wage jobs, and recipients of the mandatory pay raise say they’re enjoying the freedom of having extra money to spend or save.

The new surcharge of 50 cents a day at MasterPark in SeaTac is an attempt to recoup some costs of the $15 minimum wage, said managing partner Roger McCracken.

He said he also is considering cuts to MasterPark’s advertising budget, but he called layoffs “foolish” and rejected the notion that cashiers soon would be replaced by automation.

“Whatever we do, service is key,” he said. “We want an employee answering our phones, and anytime someone pulls into one of our lots, they’re greeted by a human being.

“That’s great news for our employees,” he added. “They’re pretty happy campers right now.”

SeaTac is being watched nationwide for the wage’s effects on both workers and businesses as policymakers at the federal, state and local level consider minimum-wage increases to try to reduce poverty and boost stagnant family incomes.
Click to expand...

To be sure, SeaTac’s $15 minimum wage has claimed some casualties.

The 215-room Clarion Hotel closed its full-service restaurant in December, laying off 15 people, said general manager Perry Wall. The hotel also let go a night desk clerk and maintenance employee and is considering a 10 percent increase in room rates for the spring travel season, Wall said.

He estimates that without a reduction in head count, the hotel’s annual payroll costs would have increased $300,000. It still employs about 30 people for jobs Wall describes as more in-demand than ever.

“I just think unskilled workers are going to have a harder time finding jobs,” he said. “You’re going to have people from as far away as Bellevue or Tacoma wanting these jobs, and they’re going to come with skills and experience. For $15 an hour, they’ll go that extra distance.”

Others say workers who already made at least $15 an hour want a raise to stay ahead of their less-experienced colleagues, leading to tense relations between labor and management. Some managers say they’re covering shifts for hourly-wage workers who are out sick to avoid paying overtime, and generally are doing more to hold down labor costs.

“I’m not resentful, of course. I love how it benefits my staff,” said Homer Ignacio, assistant manager at WallyPark, which employs about 80 people at three SeaTac locations. “But it’s almost a cutback for me because I’m a salaried employee, and I’m having to pick up the slack when people go home earlier than before.”

Many staff members are paid minimum wage and now earn 60 percent more, he said. WallyPark has adjusted without layoffs and is getting an unprecedented level of attention from job seekers, he added.
Click to expand...

"Meanwhile, workers are flocking to SeaTac to apply for minimum-wage jobs, and recipients of the mandatory pay raise say they’re enjoying the freedom of having extra money to spend or save."

I see this being an issue in the future...
 
Last edited:
Street Knowledge

Street Knowledge

Superstar
Supporter
Joined
May 2, 2012
Messages
24,835
Reputation
1,928
Daps
59,607
Reppin
NYC
DEAD7 said:
:ehh:
$15 wage floor slowly takes hold in SeaTac | Business & Technology | The Seattle Times





"Meanwhile, workers are flocking to SeaTac to apply for minimum-wage jobs, and recipients of the mandatory pay raise say they’re enjoying the freedom of having extra money to spend or save."
I see this being an issue in the future...
Click to expand...

And I can see those people taking the jobs from the young and unskilled/unexperienced workers.

“I just think unskilled workers are going to have a harder time finding jobs,” he said. “You’re going to have people from as far away as Bellevue or Tacoma wanting these jobs, and they’re going to come with skills and experience. For $15 an hour, they’ll go that extra distance.”
 
Serious

Serious

Veteran
Supporter
Joined
Apr 30, 2012
Messages
80,132
Reputation
14,309
Daps
190,856
Reppin
1st Round Playoff Exits
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top