Election Day - City of SeaTac votes on $15/Hour Minimum Wage

[XDCX]

Today's election day and the one vote I'm most interested in is the proposition in the City of SeaTac that would require employers to pay a $15/Hour Minimum Wage.

SeaTac is a relatively small city in Western Washington that surrounds the airport. The city is only 10 sq. miles large and has a population of 27,000 and was formed in 1990 after being part of unincorporated King County.

While the city of SeaTac is small and mostly insignificant, both of the Seattle Mayoral candidates indicate that they support a $15/Hour Minimum Wage too.

Labor Groups and Unions have been pushing hard to get this proposition passed so it can serve as a foundation for other cities to follow. It will be interesting to see the election results later this evening.

[XDCX]

If you've got time, here's a great story about a self-made man who would be destroyed if the Proposition demanding a $15/Hour Minimum Wage passes - click here

An immigrant who started out washing dishes for $2.25/hour and then worked 20 hour days for 20 years accumulated enough money to buy a 104 room Quality Inn Hotel. Now he has an asset he cannot sell and he'll likely be wiped out if the $15/Hour Minimum Wage law passes.

I'm guessing that the OLDCO dealers can empathize with a business owner who worked hard only to have government intervention strip away everything he accumulated.

[XDCX]

While the vote is still too close to call it appears the $15/Hour Minimum Wage law for the City of SeaTac will pass. There's still a large percentage of the vote that was cast as absentee but the current tally clearly favors the passage of the proposition.

When I was checking for an update last night I was struck by some of the other requirements the proposition would place on employers. Here's an excerpt from a newspaper report:

Proposition 1 also calls for annual increases tied to inflation, paid sick leave and tip protection. It would require employers to offer part-time workers more hours before hiring additional part-timers and to keep employees for at least three months after an ownership change.

So, as a business owner you can't hire more part time employees unless you offer your existing part time employees more hours (probably triggering mandatory Obamacare coverage) and if you sell your business the new owner has to keep your existing employees for three months.

[steve_biegler]

Originally Posted by XDCX

If you've got time, here's a great story about a self-made man who would be destroyed if the Proposition demanding a $15/Hour Minimum Wage passes - click here

An immigrant who started out washing dishes for $2.25/hour and then worked 20 hour days for 20 years accumulated enough money to buy a 104 room Quality Inn Hotel. Now he has an asset he cannot sell and he'll likely be wiped out if the $15/Hour Minimum Wage law passes.

I'm guessing that the OLDCO dealers can empathize with a business owner who worked hard only to have government intervention strip away everything he accumulated.

Yes we can!

[XDCX]

While it appears the Proposition mandating a $15/hour Minimum Wage will pass the results have not been certified since Washington uses a mail-in ballot system and it's possible there are still votes that were cast on election day that have not been received.

On a different note, one report I read last night figures that both sides will have spent $380/vote either supporting or fighting this initiative. Some people believe this is the direction organized labor (unions) will take to bolster their declining membership/significance.

[XDCX]

The latest news report indicates that the lead for the passage of the $15/Hour Minimum Wage law has tightened to 43 votes with several hundred ballots left to be counted. Here's a link to the full report - click here

On a different note, how long will it be until our country does away with the old-fashioned ballot and mail-in vote?