Union rules at issue in Sea-Tac lawsuit Deirdre Gregg, Puget Sound Business Journal
Should a small coffee kiosk be allowed to operate at Sea-Tac Airport if its 10 employees aren't union members?
This question is at the heart of a new lawsuit filed by coffee purveyor Flying Eagle Espresso Inc. against the Port of Seattle, its prime concession contractor and a large service workers union. The case, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, raises thorny issues about union-membership requirements long opposed by local business interests. And it comes at a time when unions, confronted by a shrinking manufacturing sector, have moved aggressively (and successfully) to court service-sector employees throughout the state.
In an action that alleges violations of antitrust, labor and consumer-protection laws, Flying Eagle claims that the structure of labor arrangements at the airport "unreasonably restrains trade and is contrary to the law."