*** MEDIA ADVISORY FOR SEPTEMBER 11, 2012 ***Contact: Sage Wilson, 206-227-6014 sage@workingwa.org
Workers & community members will ask Port leadership to show which side they're on
TODAY IN SEATTLE - As controversy continues to swirl over Port CEO Tay Yoshitani's side income with a company that moves goods through our port, a deeply divided Port Commission will convene this afternoon to debate his future.
Yoshitani ignited a major public controversy when it was discovered that in addition to his public-sector Port job — which pays more than $365,000 a year — he has lined up a new and lucrative side gig as a director at Expeditors International, which pays more than $230,000 annually.
When: TODAY - Tuesday, September 11, 2012 at 1 pm
Where: Port Commission Chambers: 2711 Alaskan Way (Pier 69)
What: Public testimony and Commission debate over CEO Tay Yoshitani's future. Low-wage workers from our seaport and airport will be there to speak out about Yoshitani's money grab and ask Port leadership to support good jobs for the 99%, not greed for the 1%.
Many workers and community leaders are outraged that at the same time as Port leadership argues over whether or not the CEO should be taking in a half-million dollars a year, they have done nothing to address a far larger crisis: the thousands of poverty-wage jobs at our airport and seaport. These low-wage jobs include port truck drivers, taxi cab operators, ground transportation workers, baggage handlers, aircraft fueling technicians, cabin cleaners, passenger service assistants, cargo workers, and skycaps.
This Commission hearing will help answer the question the people of King County are asking: will Port leadership side with the 99% by exercising their responsibility to stop Tay Yoshitani's money grab and standing up for good jobs at our port? Or will they side with the greed of 1% corporate interests?
For more information about how workers at our airport and seaport are standing up for good jobs, visit itsOURairport.org.
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