Workers & community ask: "which side are you on?"
*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE *** Contact: Sage Wilson, Working Washington: sage@workingwa.org
Under pressure from a major public controversy over CEO pay, Port of Seattle Commissioners today ultimately took a pass on the hard decision before them. Instead of reining in CEO Tay Yoshitani, they opted simply to appoint an independent counsel to "review" their CEO's controversial position with a company that moves goods through our port.
"The port needs to prioritize," said Genevieve Aguilar of Puget Sound Sage. "Of course they need to take a second look at a half-million-dollar paycheck for their CEO — and it's also about time the Port started 'reviewing' the thousands of poverty-wage jobs at our airport and seaport."
Sea-Tac airport fueler Alex Popescu drove the real issue home in his public testimony:
"The issue at hand right now is a CEO that makes as much as 18 people that work for poverty wages. And he wants to add a second job to make even more money. The Port needs to start focusing on the real issue: creating jobs that are able to sustain a family and provide a real living wage."
Alex continued:
"Which side are you on? Are you on the side of the workers who make the airport run safely and smoothly every day, or are you on the side of big business, big corporations, and money-hungry CEOs?"
After today's Port Commission meeting, the thousands of people who called and emailed their concerns are still left without a clear answer.
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