Thousands of workers at Philadelphia International Airport are set to earn more money per hour.
A bill signed into law Friday by Mayor Jim Kenney raises the minimum wage to $15.60 for PHL workers who are employed by airlines operating under leases with the city or those who are employed by a contractor for an airline. The wage increase will be phased in depending on when employers’ leases with the city expire.
Approved unanimously by City Council in June, the new law also guarantees workers an additional $4.54 hourly wage supplement toward health insurance and up to 56 hours of paid sick leave. Individuals who are covered by the measure hold positions ranging from baggage and freight handlers to food and retail workers, cabin cleaners and wheelchair attendants, among others.
Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson, the bill’s primary sponsor, said most service workers at PHL currently make either $13.60 or $12.40 per hour. Most, he said, also do not have health insurance.
“The new PHL Prevailing Wage Law will not only make sure that the workers make a living wage but will assure they have meaningful access to health benefits,” Johnson said. The airport is one of the biggest and most profitable airports in the country and the workers — many of whom make less than $30,000 a year in salary — shouldn’t have to worry that they could be bankrupted at any time by an illness or injury.”
With small business owners who operate at the airport and the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association voicing concerns about the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson amended the bill before it was passed to delay the minimum wage requirement for restaurant and concession workers until the beginning of 2022. Those employees will also have to wait until July 2023 to receive their health insurance supplements.
A spokesperson for PHL told the Inquirer that the airport plans to study “the potential business impacts” of the legislation, and will share…