Airport commission approves minimum wage of $10 an hour

Published 10:11 am Tuesday, May 19, 2015

BLOOMINGTON — The commission that oversees the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport has approved a plan to raise airport wages to at least $10 an hour.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that the Metropolitan Airports Commission approved the plan Monday after three hours of debate.

A spokeswoman for the commission tells The Associated Press the plan calls for raising the minimum wage to $1 above the state’s minimum wage. However, Melissa Scovronski says the commission is gathering more information and will discuss the possibility of raising wages even higher.

Email newsletter signup

Labor activists want a $15-an-hour minimum wage for airport workers.

But business interests said singling out one industry over others was bad policy.

About 2,700 workers at the Minneapolis airport would be affected, including aircraft cleaners, wheelchair pushers and cart drivers.