Opponents of SeaTac’s recently approved minimum wage — at $15, it’s the highest in the nation — have launched a last-minute appeal and taken their objections to the statute to a Friday court hearing, in hopes of winning at least a delay to the pay rule that’s due to take effect Jan. 1.
The minimum wage was already approved by voters in the small Washington city of SeaTac in November. And the workers at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport stand to win big from the pay hike, The New York Times reported. But opponents have unleashed the lawyers and appealed to the King County Superior Court in Seattle for an outright strike of the law, or at the least, an abeyance.
Supporters see the appeal as standing a good chance, and they’ve set up their own team of lawyers to prepare an emergency appeal to the state’s highest court, The Times reported.
The legal struggle is being watched around the nation, especially by labor and business groups who are trying to win the public relations battle over minimum wage hikes.
The SeaTac statute could raise pay and give paid sick days for about 6,500 workers, The Times reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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