By Nate Jackson If you are the Port of Seattle and most of your workers make poverty level wages what do you do? You throw a party to celebrate your overpaid executives, the one percent.
The Port of Seattle calls itself “The Port of Prosperity." We call it the "Port of Poverty." The Port on November 10th is having a self-congratulating $1,750-a-table banquet for the overpaid executives. There is just one problem. They forgot to invite the people who actually create the wealth of the port: the workers. That’s why we are holding our own banquet to honor the Port Workers at the Bell Harbor Conference Center at 5:30 pm.
It’s not the “Port of Prosperity” for workers. It’s the “Port of Poverty.” Workers are not treated with the respect they rightly deserve. No one understands that better than the airport workers who were just fired for praying.
26 Hertz airport workers were“ suspended” a few weeks ago for practicing their religion. Now they have been sacked.
Sadly, Hertz is far from the only port company that is taking advantage of its workers. The average worker at the ports are working poverty level jobs with no benefits, no job security and rules that change on managerial whims. Meanwhile, the Port of Seattle CEO Tay Yoshitani, still makes$400,000 a year. It’s not right and that’s why we are standing up for good jobs at the port.
On Thursday, November 10 we are holding our own banquet to honor workers who work hard every day, providing essential port services, and don’t get the respect we deserve. We stand together. Every job at the Port of Seattle should be a good job. Won't you join us at the Bell Harbor Conference Center at 5:30 pm?
This is our port and we should benefit from all our hard work.