International Boulevard past Alaska Airlines corporate headquarters looks pretty tranquil in this photo, but on Saturday afternoon, 1,000 airport workers and supporters are set to march past the headquarters during a rally demanding that Alaska ensure better paying jobs at the airport.
Congestion inside Sea-Tac International Airport on Saturday afternoon, April 28 may be a possibility but congestion around the airport is almost a certainty.
An estimated 1,000 airport workers and supporters will march down International Boulevard shortly after noon from the airport flag pavilion, past Alaka Airlines corporate headquarters and disperse at Angle Lake Park.
The march is part of a rally to call on the Port of Seattle, operators of the airport, and Alaska Airlines, which operates about half of all flights at Sea-Tac, “to make sure all airport jobs are good jobs,” according to organizers.
Speakers will warm up the crowd at the flag pavilion across from the Radisson Hotel at 18118 International Blvd., beginning at noon.
Then the demonstrators will march south on International Boulevard. Alaska’s corporate headquarters is next door to the park, which is located at 19408 International Blvd.
The organizers say the airport has about 4,000 “poverty-wage jobs,” such as baggage handlers, wheelchair agents, cabin cleaners and taxi and shuttle drivers. Many of these jobs are done by immigrants, the organizers said.
“These are the workers who keep our airport running….,” a press release notes.
The rally is sponsored by Working Washington, which describes itself as “a coalition of individuals, neighborhood associations, immigrant groups, civil rights organizations, people of faith, and labor united for good jobs and a fair economy.”
The group provides additional information at www.itsOURairport.org.
