Can an airport authority, port authority, or other airport governing body set airport minimum wage?

K

ktsai91

Well-Known Member
I was searching around on airport-related news recently and came across several news articles and headlines that airport workers at major airports (by that I do not mean airport management/operations employees, I mean airline, cargo, and airport contractor employees) are plagued by low wages close to minimum wage. I even found several articles that Port Authority airports like EWR, JFK, and LGA had airport employees petitioning the PANYNJ to raise the minimum wage at their airports.

This raises an interesting question for me about minimum wages at airports. My question is do airport authorities, port authorities or other governing body which run the airports have the power to set a minimum wage for their airports? I always thought the minimum wage was set by the Federal, state, or local government but not by the government which owns and operates the airports.
 
Much like SCA clauses in FAR based contracts. They mandate the prevailing wage based on SoL and attach it to the contract.
 
ktsai91 said:
I always thought the minimum wage was set by the Federal, state, or local government but not by the government which owns and operates the airports.
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I guess you are differentiating between the "local government" that runs the airport and some other "local government."

That aside, even when airport authorities are set up by state or local governments as a separate political entity, they are often given a set of powers to deal with airport businesses.Whether they can set minimum wages as part of their minimum standards for businesses operating at the airport, is probably a function of how they are chartered.
 
SFO, requires time off, medical and a higher min wage. When I was at CA, I brought this to my CP attention as we were not given designated sick time and our insurance policy was not complient. I was told , we can just shut down SFO as a base...
 
Don't work at ATL, because they will pay you the absolute minimum that they can get away with. But that's what you get when the city runs things.
 
SFLAX said:
SFO, requires time off, medical and a higher min wage. When I was at CA, I brought this to my CP attention as we were not given designated sick time and our insurance policy was not complient. I was told , we can just shut down SFO as a base...
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Kinda like Indiana, Arkansas, Alabama, et. al. are shutting down clerks offices so they won't have to issue any marriage licenses anymore lest they might, heaven forfend, have to adapt and comply with the law and the will of the people. So much easier willfully to ignore reality, live in denial, and make self-satisfied displays of obdurate recalcitrance about how the world was so much better when it was flat.
 
Crop Duster said:
Kinda like Indiana, Arkansas, Alabama, et. al. are shutting down clerks offices so they won't have to issue any marriage licenses anymore lest they might, heaven forfend, have to adapt and comply with the law and the will of the people. So much easier willfully to ignore reality, live in denial, and make self-satisfied displays of obdurate recalcitrance about how the world was so much better when it was flat.
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Wow - a little dramatic, amirite? You know, because airports and marriage licenses have so much in common.
 
BaronPete said:
Wow - a little dramatic, amirite? You know, because airports and marriage licenses have so much in common.
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The common denominators are a state of being informed or not, an understanding of guiding principles or not, and a state of giving a rat's ass or not.
 
SFLAX said:
SFO, requires time off, medical and a higher min wage. When I was at CA, I brought this to my CP attention as we were not given designated sick time and our insurance policy was not complient. I was told , we can just shut down SFO as a base...
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Yep, and when you cry to the SF Labor Board, they come down with the Hammer of God on violating companies. But that's another story.
 
SFLAX said:
SFO, requires time off, medical and a higher min wage. When I was at CA, I brought this to my CP attention as we were not given designated sick time and our insurance policy was not complient. I was told , we can just shut down SFO as a base...
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Well, we comply. I have a PPO that costs me $0 because my company actively complies with the rules and regulations for operating out of a key hub for our major partner.

(note: I have no idea what happens for below-wing)
 
SEA is going through something similar.

In 2014, voters in Seattle and city of SeaTac (where SEA is actually located) voted to raise the minimum wage to $15/hr, which resulted in several airlines (Alaska, Delta, United, American, and UPS) managing to get a court order saying that the initiative didn't apply to the airport, which is currently on appeal to the Washington Supreme Court. Shortly thereafter, the Port of Seattle decided to raise the minimum wage at the airport to $11.22/hr, which resulted in those same airlines filing a lawsuit saying that they shouldn't have to pay anything more than the federal minimum wage, since a living wage is apparently "unlawful regulation".

Apparently the irony of a running a "Seattle's hometown airline" marketing campaign while trying to undermine the will of the residents of said hometown is completely lost on Alaska.
 
Yes, it's not uncommon for an Aviation Authority to stipulate a minimum wage to ensure customer service quality, or to ensure that vendors can be sufficiently staffed. You can work at a Burger King anywhere - the extra time it takes to park and ride a shuttle into work is a barrier to staffing unless you compensate accordingly.
 
MidlifeFlyer said:
What does the city running it have anything to do with it. Seems pretty common in non-government also.

Question: Why do employers pay minimum wage?
Answer: Because they are't allowed to pay less.
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Compared to other large hub, class B airports, the pay scales at ATL are on the lower end of the industry. And that's taking the cost of living into account. Hence why most of ATL's upper executive staff has moved on in the past couple of years. Most of IAH's executive staff came from ATL.

Another example is my own father who used to be the director over both the 'Plane Train' and 'Sky Train'. He was one of the lowest paid compared to his peers across the nation. He now works at DFW overseeing their system there and makes about $45k more a year. Dallas isn't much different than Atlanta cost of living wise. And he only over sees one train system now.

I was a ramp controller in C Tower (ramps 3 & 4) and occasionally the oh so busy ramp 9 and only made $14.50/hr. The Delta ramp controllers in A/E tower easily pulled in $40-55k/yr.

City governments tend to pay less than airport authorities or corporate entities at comparable airports.
 
SFLAX said:
SFO, requires time off, medical and a higher min wage. When I was at CA, I brought this to my CP attention as we were not given designated sick time and our insurance policy was not complient. I was told , we can just shut down SFO as a base...
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"Okay boss. Start the paperwork process. See ya in court for all the back pay I'm due."

You don't want to work for someone like that. Chances are, that's not the only law they're breaking.
 
The corporate thinking today is all about "lean". IMHO that concept works great if your making sprinkler heads or floor mats, it doesn't work in aviation. Safety for the pax should be paramount, not profit.
 
mshunter said:
"Okay boss. Start the paperwork process. See ya in court for all the back pay I'm due."

You don't want to work for someone like that. Chances are, that's not the only law they're breaking.
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Technically they're not breaking the law. The RLA preempts it, just like it preempts state "right to work" laws.
 
mshunter said:
"Okay boss. Start the paperwork process. See ya in court for all the back pay I'm due."

You don't want to work for someone like that. Chances are, that's not the only law they're breaking.
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Never was a pay issue. And I guess if you want to be that guy in this industry, go right ahead.
 
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