Commissioner John Creighton Leads Seattle Port Commission’s Efforts to Seek Review of Labor Relations Ruling

The Port approved at its October 23 business meeting a motion authorizing outside legal counsel to seek to dissolve or modify a 2000 federal court order and consent judgment that blocked a Port attempt to make a port business hire workers from a particular Port-allied labor union. The agreement also permanently blocked any other Port actions interfering with the federally-protected rights of concessionaires “to assign work to their own employees.” 

The injunction, which the Port Commission believes is overly broad, has effectively blocked the Port from requiring or even strongly recommending to concessionaires that they adopt a “worker retention” policy. 

The Port has detailed publicly that it wants concessionaires – companies who bid to win lease rights on Port property to do business – to commit upfront, perhaps as a condition of being awarded a concession, that they will take steps to try to hire suitable ex-workers of other Port concessionaires who ended their leases with the Port. The worker retention policy has been proposed as part of a broader Concessions Master Plan the Port is developing to govern its relations from 2015 to 2017 with concessionaires at its Sea-Tac Airport. There are more than 50 in-airport concessionaires at Sea-Tac and others on adjacent airport properties. 

“We have a dedicated, experienced pool of workers at the airport,” said Seattle Port Commissioner John Creighton, “it is important that, as we look to renew our concessions program, we have a smooth transition both for our workforce and the traveling public.”

About Commissioner John Creighton

John Creighton was elected to the Seattle Port Commission in 2005 and re-elected in 2009. He served as Port Commission President from 2007-2008, and for the last two years as co-chair of the Commission’s Century Agenda committee. The Century Agenda committee has led the development of the Port’s 25-year plan to help grow 100,000 new port-related jobs for the Puget Sound region.

Prior to returning home to Seattle in 2000, John was a business lawyer who practiced law in Washington, D.C., and overseas in Istanbul, Helsinki and Singapore with the New York law firm White & Case. John grew up in the eastside suburbs of Seattle, where he attended Interlake High School. For more information about Commissioner John Creighton, please visit www.johncreighton.org.