3 voices on the MSP airport wage debate
Minnesota is about to reignite the debate over the minimum wage in the state. The Metropolitan Airports Commission is going to decide whether the airport should have a higher minimum wage than the rest of the state, now $8 an hour.
The commission discussed the matter for more than three hours this week, considering the pros and cons of Gov. Mark Dayton's pledge last month to set a $10 minimum wage at the airport.
The 15-member MAC will be weighing its options May 18. Possibilities include an airport-wide ordinance that could apply to all 17,200 people who work there; new vendor contract wage terms, aimed at 2,800 low-wage workers who serve as wheelchair attendants, cart drivers and plane cleaners, among other jobs; or one or more alternatives, like the so-called "living wage" ordinances in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
The debate may test whether political subdivisions like the airport can set separate wage policies — and set a precedent for cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul. And since the airport is believed to employ about 1 percent of the Twin Cities workforce, a rising wage could have an impact for other area employers.
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The idea also faces a challenge in the Legislature, where the Republican-controlled House has inserted language in the jobs bill that would preempt local variations in the minimum wage.
Here you can hear from three principals in the debate, making their cases to the airport commission. They include former Delta baggage handler Kip Hedges, now a labor advocate at the aiport; Rob DeLucia, an executive with the trade group that represents the seven passenger and three cargo airlines that use the airport; and Dan Boivin, the Metropolitan Airports Commission chairman, appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton.
https://soundcloud.com/mprnews/former-delta-baggage-handler-kip-hedges-on-airport-wage
https://soundcloud.com/mprnews/airlines-for-america-vp-rob-delucia-on-airport-wage
https://soundcloud.com/mprnews/airports-commission-chair-dan-boivin-talks-about-airport-wage