The Philadelphia City Council voted 17-0 yesterday to tweak the city's "living wage law" so that it applies to employees of small contractors (five employees or more) at the Philadelphia International Airport. The law requires companies that have contracts with the city to pay their workers at least one and a half times minimum wage, as well as to provide paid sick leave.

Despite the unanimous vote, not all council members were convinced of the wisdom: "I don't think the way to go continuously is to turn low-wage jobs into better and better paid jobs because you are going to lose more and more low-paid jobs that way," said council member David Oh, making one of the stupidest arguments ever against raising wages.

But what really struck me about the plight of low-paid workers at Philadelphia International Airport are the parallels to the plight of of low-paid workers at Sea-Tac, both of which have seen wages fall in both real and actual dollars at the hands of contractors:

Cheryl Friedman, who works as a wheelchair attendant and security officer at the airport, would be getting a raise if Mayor Michael Nutter decided to sign the bill into law.

"When I started 12 years ago, I was making $10 an hour. Now it's down to $7.25 for wheelchairs, $9 an hour on security," she said. "It's difficult for me to live on this low income. I have 15 grandkids and six sons."

That's very similar to what happened at Sea-Tac after Alaska Airlines contracted out its baggage handling. Alaska workers who made an average $13.41 an hour in 2005 were hired back by Menzies Aviation for only $8.75 an hour. Seven years later, Sea-Tac contract workers were averaging only $9.70 an hour, the lowest hourly wage of any major West Coast airport.

Adjusted for inflation that's a nearly 40 percent decline in real wages.

But, you know, hooray for the free market!