Barclays Considers Raising Wages For Lowest-Paid Workers Around The World

Barclays is considering guaranteeing a living wage to workers worldwide, as it already does for its employees and contract workers in the U.K., where the bank is headquartered.

At a shareholder meeting in London last week, Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins said he would work with the international labor union UNI Global to consider raising pay for the bank’s lowest-level workers around the world. Barclays has about 132,000 employees operating in 50 countries, but declined to say how many workers would get a raise if such a proposal were enacted.

“We are very proud of our certification as a living wage employer in the U.K.,” Jenkins said at the meeting. “We are willing to get started and to discuss this global initiative with UNI Global Union.”

Barclays started moving toward paying a living wage to workers and contractors in the U.K. as early as 2003, and officially received accreditation from the Living Wage Foundation, a U.K. group that has been pushing companies on the issue, in 2013.

The living wage measure would most directly affect bank tellers, mailroom workers and contract workers who provide the bank with cleaning and security services. In the U.K., the bank pays the thousands of workers it employs in these capacities 9.15 pounds ($14.10) an hour in London and 7.85 pounds ($12.09) an hour in the rest of the country.

The bank has not said yet how it will determine what exactly constitutes a "living wage" in different countries. In the U.K., these amounts are determined annually by a London government agency, which looks at the basic cost of living. Companies are only required to pay the U.K.’s minimum wage of 6.50 pounds an hour, and paying the living wage is voluntary.

“Paying people that work for us a wage that supports a decent standard of living makes good business sense and is in line with our values,” Barclays said in an email statement to The Huffington Post. “Currently, this is a UK-specific commitment but Barclays is aware of international efforts to combat wage inequality in other countries, and we are gathering information on how this can be implemented.”

Barclays' effort to expand its living wage commitment is just the latest sign of an emerging movement to raise pay for low-income workers globally.

“We’re in crisis in the globe with wages being too low,” said Christy Hoffman, the deputy general secretary at UNI Global, which is based in Switzerland. Hoffman cautioned that its discussions with Barclays on the issue are still in their very early days.

Hoffman compared her group’s efforts on a global living wage to the movement in the U.S. for a wage of $15 per hour for fast food employees and other workers. There are currently 10,000 Barclays employees in the U.S., Hoffman said, but it isn’t clear how many would be affected by a possible commitment to a living wage.

UNI Global is not active in the U.S. movement for $15 an hour, but it represents more than 20 million workers worldwide in Africa, Central and South America, Asia and Europe.

Jenkins' comments stand in sharp contrast to last year’s shareholder meeting, when Barclays executives came under fire for what shareholders called excessive pay packages for executives, particularly in light of the bank’s involvement in rate-fixing and other scandals over the past few years.

The higher wages in the U.K. have meant that fewer contractors leave the bank, according to a report sponsored by the company and released in January. Contractors also reported higher levels of “engagement” with their job -- i.e., they’re happier, the report stated.

“Having supported the Living Wage for over 10 years, we know that it can improve productivity, morale and retention rates,” Dominic Johnson, the employee relations director for Barclays, said in the January report. "This is not just an expression of our corporate values or an issue of social impact, but good business sense.”

Other employers that have committed to paying a living wage in the U.K. include KPMG, Burberry, HSBC and Nestle.

In the U.S., the average bank teller makes $12.81 an hour, according to the Labor Department. Pay for bank tellers in the U.S. is so low that nearly one-third of them receive some kind of public assistance, according to a 2014 UNI Global report.

UNI Global's Hoffman said that she hopes Barclays inspires other global financial institutions. "We hope this is a first step with banks," she said.

Big Businesses In Baltimore Told Employees To Stay Home After Riots

Some of Baltimore’s biggest employers closed their offices on Tuesday, following the violence that erupted after the funeral of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died after suffering a spinal injury in police custody.

Johns Hopkins University, which employs more than 21,000 workers in the city, canceled all classes and events on Tuesday and asked all nonessential employees to stay home.

“This is out of an abundance of caution and uncertainty about what conditions will be like today,” Dennis O’Shea, a spokesman for the college, told The Huffington Post.

He said the school had not yet planned any outreach programs for after the unrest subsided, but that some student groups were in the city helping to clean up debris from the riots Monday.

Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health Systems, another top employer, remained open on Tuesday.

"The safety and security of our patients and employees is our priority," Kim Hoppe, a hospital spokeswoman, said in a statement. "We are advising patients to check with their health care provider to verify appointments."

Loyola University Maryland canceled all classes after 2 p.m. on Tuesday. It remains unclear whether the school will open on Wednesday.

"That's not something we know as of yet," Nick Alexopoulos, spokesman for the university, told HuffPost.

Constellation Energy, with its roughly 3,100-strong workforce in Baltimore, asked employees to work from home.

“In an effort to ensure employee safety, Constellation asked its Baltimore-based employees to work remotely,” Christina Pratt, a spokesman, told HuffPost in an email. “We will continue to monitor the situation in the days ahead and stay in regular contact with our employees.”

The city’s two largest financial companies, money manager T. Rowe Price Group and the investment bank Legg Mason, also asked employees to work from home. T. Rowe Price sent employees home early on Monday as violence broke out across the city.

“As always, the safety and security of our associates remains our paramount concern,” said spokesman Edward Giltenan, adding that T. Rowe Price employs 1,262 people at its evacuated downtown Baltimore headquarters. “We have maintained communications with our associates during this time and will continue to do so as circumstances warrant. We will also continue to monitor the situation in consultation with local authorities to determine what additional steps, if any, may need to be taken.”

Bank of America, which maintains a sizable outpost in Baltimore, said it was also focusing on safety.

"We’ve taken appropriate steps to ensure the safety of our customers and employees, which includes closing branches and administrative facilities in the affected area," spokeswoman Nicole Nastacie told HuffPost.

Morgan Stanley also has operations in the city, but a representative did not return calls requesting comment. The University System of Maryland and the University of Maryland did not immediately respond, either.

The rioting Monday in West Baltimore marked the most violent clashes between citizens and police in the United States since the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, over the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown last August.

This story has been updated with statements from Johns Hopkins Hospital and Loyola University.

Troubled For-Profit Corinthian Colleges Shutting Down As Education Department Faces Bill

Corinthian Colleges Inc., once one of the nation's largest chains of for-profit colleges, announced Sunday it is abruptly shutting down after failing to find buyers for its roughly 30 remaining campuses, leaving up to 16,000 students in the lurch and potentially costing the U.S. Department of Education tens of millions of dollars in forgone federal student loan payments.

"What these students have experienced is unacceptable," Education Undersecretary Ted Mitchell said in a blog post Sunday.

The California-based chain at its peak operated more than 120 colleges with more than 110,000 students across North America under the Everest, Wyotech and Heald brands. Last July, under pressure from the Education Department over a paperwork dispute, the company struck a deal with the Obama administration to sell or close all of its campuses over the following six-month period in order to avoid what the Education Department described as an "immediate closure," or exactly what has happened with the company's Sunday announcement.

The closure is effective Monday. Corinthian students were told in a statement posted on the company's website and via email that the company is trying to make arrangements with other schools that would enable Corinthian students to complete their studies elsewhere. Students with federal student loans who choose not to complete their programs would be eligible for full loan cancellations. Unless the Education Department recoups the money from the financially troubled company, taxpayers would eat the cost.

Corinthian said 28 campuses are closing. The Education Department put the total at 30, which includes two satellite campuses that it counts as separate locations.

"For too many students, Corinthian turned the American dream of higher ed into a nightmare of debt & despair," Rohit Chopra, the federal consumer bureau's top student loan official, wrote Sunday on Twitter.

In recent years, Corinthian has been accused by multiple federal and state authorities of systematically lying about its graduation or job placement rates, misleading potential students into enrolling and forking over tens of thousands of dollars to obtain credentials many critics believe to be of dubious value. The company annually received some $1.4 billion in federal financial aid for its students, according to the Education Department.

Corinthian finalized a deal in February to sell more than 50 of its campuses to one of the Education Department's contracted debt collectors in a transaction that effectively bailed out the company and deprived nearly 40,000 students of the chance to have their federal student loans canceled. The forced sale followed months of alleged delays by the company to turn over sufficient paperwork about its job placement rates to the Education Department.

Last summer, the department had limited Corinthian schools' access to federal financial aid, a move that ultimately set off a chain of events that culminated with Sunday's announcement. The company in a statement blamed federal and state regulators for its abrupt closure.

The surprise announcement that the company will immediately shut down its remaining campuses across five states now puts the Education Department in the exact position it had hoped to avoid. The department, led by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, had hoped to either broker a sale of the company's remaining campuses -- keeping them open for current students -- or help the company strike agreements with other schools to allow Corinthian students the opportunity to complete their programs.

"We believe that we have attempted to do everything within our power to provide a quality education and an opportunity for a better future for our students," Jack Massimino, Corinthian's chief executive, said in a statement. "Unfortunately the current regulatory environment would not allow us to complete a transaction with several interested parties that would have allowed for a seamless transition for our students. I would like to thank our employees for their selfless dedication and commitment to fulfilling the educational and career goals of all of our students."

The company said it had been in what it described as "advanced negotiations" with several potential buyers for its Heald campuses as well as other schools that would take in some Corinthian students in California wishing to complete their studies. But the company said its efforts were stymied "largely as a result of federal and state regulators seeking to impose financial penalties and conditions on buyers and teach-out partners."

Kamala Harris, California's attorney general, has a pending lawsuit against the company alleging it misled students and investors about its job placement rates. The state of California in 2007 settled a previous investigation into Corinthian after amassing evidence that the company allegedly inflated its job placement rates.

Several state attorneys general and the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have sued the company, alleging it lied to potential students. The Education Department meanwhile allowed the company's schools to continue enrolling students and tap taxpayer funds for its bottom line.

Mitchell said Sunday that the Education Department would send its staff "to as many campuses as possible to talk directly with students." The department was in discussions with state community college systems to ensure that Corinthian students could continue their studies, he added, while some students could be eligible for debt forgiveness.

The for-profit college industry has been in consumer advocates' crosshairs for years. Though students at for-profit schools constitute only 13 percent of total enrollment at higher education institutions, they represent nearly half of all loan defaults, according to the Education Department. The Obama administration has been trying to rein in for-profit schools and limit dodgy schools' access to federal financial aid.

Corinthian Colleges spawned a growing movement of so-called "debt strikers" who are refusing to make payments on their federal student loans in protest against the Education Department's treatment of the company and its current and former students. A group of roughly 100 former Corinthian students that calls itself the "Corinthian 100" has been publicly pressuring the department to cancel all debts owed by current and former Corinthian students because of the company's alleged deception related to its job placement and graduation rates.

"We have kept students at the heart of every decision we have made about Corinthian," Mitchell said last month.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) in March endorsed the debt strike. The former Corinthian students "have decided that this is predatory lending and they're not going to repay their debts," said Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee.

Duncan has said his department is considering their request. Full debt forgiveness for all current and former Corinthian students would likely cost the Education Department billions of dollars, especially because it's unlikely the department could get the company to cover losses from forgone federal student loan payments.

The federal student loan program has generated tens of billions of dollars in profit in recent years, thanks to the spread between high interest rates paid by student loan borrowers and the relatively low rates paid by the government in financing its annual budget deficits. The Congressional Budget Office forecasts that the program will continue to generate billions in annual profits in the coming decade.

Last month, the Education Department accused Corinthian's Heald campuses of misleading students and accreditation agencies about its graduates’ employment rates. The company showed a “blatant disregard” for the federal student loan program after the department said it found 947 false job placement rates dating back to at least 2010.

The Education Department levied a $29.7 million fine, a ban on enrolling new students, and a requirement that Heald prepare plans for its thousands of students to either graduate or transfer to a new school.

The department has yet to announce the results of its broader investigation into allegations the company's other schools lied about its job placement rates.

Troubled For-Profit Corinthian Colleges Shutting Down As Education Department Faces Bill

Corinthian Colleges Inc., once one of the nation's largest chains of for-profit colleges, announced Sunday it is abruptly shutting down after failing to find buyers for its roughly 30 remaining campuses, leaving up to 16,000 students in the lurch and potentially costing the U.S. Department of Education tens of millions of dollars in foregone federal student loan payments.

"What these students have experienced is unacceptable," Education Undersecretary Ted Mitchell said in a blog post Sunday.

The California-based chain at its peak operated more than 120 colleges with more than 110,000 students across North America under the Everest, Wyotech and Heald brands. Last July, under pressure from the Education Department over a paperwork dispute, the company struck a deal with the Obama administration to sell or close all of its campuses over the following six-month period in order to avoid what the Education Department described as an "immediate closure," or exactly what has happened with the company's Sunday announcement.

The closure is effective Monday. Corinthian students were told in a statement posted on the company's website and via email that the company is trying to make arrangements with other schools that would enable Corinthian students to complete their studies elsewhere. Students with federal student loans who choose not to complete their programs would be eligible for full loan cancellations. Unless the Education Department recoups the money from the financially troubled company, taxpayers would eat the cost.

Corinthian said 28 campuses are closing. The Education Department put the total at 30, which includes two satellite campuses that it counts as separate locations.

"For too many students, Corinthian turned the American dream of higher ed into a nightmare of debt & despair," Rohit Chopra, the federal consumer bureau's top student loan official, wrote Sunday on Twitter.

In recent years, Corinthian has been accused by multiple federal and state authorities of systematically lying about its graduation or job placement rates, misleading potential students into enrolling and forking over tens of thousands of dollars to obtain credentials many critics believe to be of dubious value. The company annually received some $1.4 billion in federal financial aid for its students, according to the Education Department.

Corinthian finalized a deal in February to sell more than 50 of its campuses to one of the Education Department's contracted debt collectors in a transaction that effectively bailed out the company and deprived nearly 40,000 students of the chance to have their federal student loans canceled. The forced sale followed months of alleged delays by the company to turn over sufficient paperwork about its job placement rates to the Education Department.

Last summer, the department had limited Corinthian schools' access to federal financial aid, a move that ultimately set off a chain of events that culminated with Sunday's announcement. The company in a statement blamed federal and state regulators for its abrupt closure.

The surprise announcement that the company will immediately shut down its remaining campuses across five states now puts the Education Department in the exact position it had hoped to avoid. The department, led by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, had hoped to either broker a sale of the company's remaining campuses -- keeping them open for current students -- or help the company strike agreements with other schools to allow Corinthian students the opportunity to complete their programs.

"We believe that we have attempted to do everything within our power to provide a quality education and an opportunity for a better future for our students," Jack Massimino, Corinthian's chief executive, said in a statement. "Unfortunately the current regulatory environment would not allow us to complete a transaction with several interested parties that would have allowed for a seamless transition for our students. I would like to thank our employees for their selfless dedication and commitment to fulfilling the educational and career goals of all of our students."

The company said it had been in what it described as "advanced negotiations" with several potential buyers for its Heald campuses as well as other schools that would take in some Corinthian students in California wishing to complete their studies. But the company said its efforts were stymied "largely as a result of federal and state regulators seeking to impose financial penalties and conditions on buyers and teach-out partners."

Kamala Harris, California's attorney general, has a pending lawsuit against the company alleging it misled students and investors about its job placement rates. The state of California in 2007 settled a previous investigation into Corinthian after amassing evidence that the company allegedly inflated its job placement rates.

Several state attorneys general and the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have sued the company, alleging it lied to potential students. The Education Department meanwhile allowed the company's schools to continue enrolling students and tap taxpayer funds for its bottom line.

Mitchell said Sunday that the Education Department would send its staff "to as many campuses as possible to talk directly with students." The department was in discussions with state community college systems to ensure that Corinthian students could continue their studies, he added, while some students could be eligible for debt forgiveness.

The for-profit college industry has been in consumer advocates' crosshairs for years. Though students at for-profit schools constitute only 13 percent of total enrollment at higher education institutions, they represent nearly half of all loan defaults, according to the Education Department. The Obama administration has been trying to rein in for-profit schools and limit dodgy schools' access to federal financial aid.

Corinthian Colleges spawned a growing movement of so-called "debt strikers" who are refusing to make payments on their federal student loans in protest against the Education Department's treatment of the company and its current and former students. A group of roughly 100 former Corinthian students that calls itself the "Corinthian 100" has been publicly pressuring the department to cancel all debts owed by current and former Corinthian students because of the company's alleged deception related to its job placement and graduation rates.

"We have kept students at the heart of every decision we have made about Corinthian," Mitchell said last month.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) in March endorsed the debt strike. The former Corinthian students "have decided that this is predatory lending and they're not going to repay their debts," said Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee.

Duncan has said his department is considering their request. Full debt forgiveness for all current and former Corinthian students would likely cost the Education Department billions of dollars, especially because it's unlikely the department could get the company to cover losses from forgone federal student loan payments.

The federal student loan program has generated tens of billions of dollars in profit in recent years, thanks to the spread between high interest rates paid by student loan borrowers and the relatively low rates paid by the government in financing its annual budget deficits. The Congressional Budget Office forecasts that the program will continue to generate billions in annual profits in the coming decade.

Last month, the Education Department accused Corinthian's Heald campuses of misleading students and accreditation agencies about its graduates’ employment rates. The company showed a “blatant disregard” for the federal student loan program after the department said it found 947 false job placement rates dating back to at least 2010.

The Education Department levied a $29.7 million fine, a ban on enrolling new students, and a requirement that Heald prepare plans for its thousands of students to either graduate or transfer to a new school.

The department has yet to announce the results of its broader investigation into allegations the company's other schools lied about its job placement rates.

Comcast Calls Off Time Warner Cable Merger

Comcast has scrapped plans to merge with Time Warner Cable in a $45.2 billion deal that would have combined the country’s two largest cable and broadband providers, the companies said Friday.

The move comes two days after the Federal Communication Commission said it planned to oppose the deal, joining lawyers from the Justice Department who felt it would not help consumers. The FCC said it would issue a “hearing designation order” that would prolong the deal, making it more difficult and expensive for Comcast. On Friday, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said the merger posed "unacceptable risk to competition and innovation."

"Today, we move on," Comcast chairman and CEO Brian L. Roberts said in a statement on Friday. "Of course, we would have liked to bring out great products to new cities, but we structured this deal so that if the government didn't agree, we could walk away."

In a separate statement, Time Warner Cable CEO Robert D. Marcus called his company a "one-of-a-kind asset."

But the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger faced vehement opposition from many who claimed such a deal would stifle competition by creating a monopolistic beast. As it is, Americans have limited options compared to other developed countries for buying cable or Internet. A combined Comcast and Time Warner Cable would have represented 54 percent of the entire U.S. broadband market.

"The companies' decision to abandon this deal is the best outcome for American consumers," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement. "This is a victory not only for the Department of Justice, but also for providers of content and streaming services who work to bring innovative products to consumers across America and around the world."

The dead merger marks a second failure for Comcast in just the past year. The Philadelphia-based behemoth suffered a loss when the FCC adopted open Internet rules that enshrine in law net neutrality -- the principle that broadband providers “cannot block, throttle, or create special ‘fast lanes’” for any Internet content. Comcast vehemently opposed the regulation.

Bloomberg News first reported the end of the deal on Thursday.

This story has been updated with statements from Comcast, Time Warner Cable and the FCC and the Department of Justice. Simon McCormack contributed reporting.

How Raising The Minimum Wage To $15 Changed These Workers' Lives

SEATAC, Wash. -- In late 2013, voters in this airport town outside Seattle narrowly approved a groundbreaking measure setting a minimum wage of $15 per hour for certain workers. When the new law went into effect last year, Sammi Babakrkhil got a whopping 57 percent raise.

A valet attendant and shuttle driver at a parking company called MasterPark, Babakrkhil saw his base wage jump from $9.55 per hour, before tips, up to $15. Having scraped by in America since immigrating from Afghanistan 11 years ago, he suddenly faced the pleasant predicament as his co-workers: What to do with the windfall?

For the overworked father of three, it wasn't a hard question. Babakrkhil decided to quit his other full-time job driving shuttles at a hotel down the road. Though he'd take home less money overall, the pay hike at MasterPark would allow him to work 40 hours a week instead of a brutal 80 -- and to actually spend time with his wife and three young girls.

"My kids used to not see me," said Babakrkhil, who notes that the new work arrangement has also afforded him time to start exercising. "Now I make a little bit less, but I'm enjoying my life ... I'm happy this way."

Babakrkhil's colleague Deyo Hirata, who also received a considerable raise, said he now frets less about making ends meet. Though he has always taken pride in his job and maintained a good relationship with his managers, he says the wage hike has made him feel better rewarded for his labor. Nobody will get rich earning $15 per hour in an area as expensive as greater Seattle, but for the first time now, Hirata is seeing the possibility of savings.

"Money is always a hassle, but it has taken whatever subtle pressures off," Hirata said of the wage increase. "It's changed my attitude about struggling. It's less stress in your life, bottom line."

Raising the minimum wage is a popular idea right now. Though the federal minimum wage hasn't moved since 2009, cities and states throughout the country have passed minimum wage hikes in recent years, bringing raises to millions of service workers like Babakrkhil and Hirata. Thanks to a handful of state ballot initiatives approved in November, for the first time ever a majority of states now have minimum wages higher than the federal level of $7.25.

But nowhere have the raises been so vast and sudden as in SeaTac, a small city at the forefront of what's become known as the Fight for $15 labor movement. Funded by the Service Employees International Union, Fight for $15 has held a series of high-profile worker strikes in cities around the country over the past three years. Though the strikes and protests started with fast food workers, they have grown to include home and child care workers, and even adjunct professors.

The passage of SeaTac’s minimum wage ballot initiative, which SEIU helped to fund, marked the first concrete policy win for the national Fight for $15 movement. The SeaTac victory was also instrumental in bringing a $15 minimum wage to the much larger city of Seattle: Once it became clear that voters in nearby SeaTac weren't afraid to pass such an aggressive wage hike, Seattle businesses joined with city officials and labor leaders to hash out a minimum wage law that employers would find palatable. A deal was reached just months after SeaTac voters approved their proposal, and Seattle's city council passed it into law in June 2014. However, unlike in SeaTac, where the wage was raised immediately, Seattle businesses will be eased into a $15 minimum wage over a multi-year phase-in period.

SeaTac and Seattle were likely the most visible victories in the ambitious push for $15, which has drawn strong opposition from business groups. But the successes in those cities undoubtedly helped progressives pass more modest wage hikes around the country, in addition to influencing the debate over income inequality on Capitol Hill. Although Congress is no closer to reaching a deal to raise the minimum wage -- Republicans have steadfastly opposed a hike in recent sessions -- Democrats are now considering raising their initial wage proposal, from $10.10 to $12.

Significant as it is, however, the SeaTac minimum wage law only applies to a sliver of the city’s workers -- for now. To make it politically feasible, the measure was tailored to apply to transportation and hospitality workers at large businesses tied to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, rather than to all private employers within the city. Among those exempted from the law: free-standing restaurants not tied to hotels; unionized hotels that already have a collective bargaining agreement with workers; hotels with fewer than 30 employees or 100 guest rooms; and "park and fly" lots with fewer than 100 parking spaces or 25 employees.

And most importantly, the minimum wage -- which ticked up to $15.24 on Jan. 1, because it’s pegged to inflation -- doesn't yet apply at the actual airport. After SeaTac’s ballot initiative passed, several businesses, led by Alaska Airlines, banded together and sued to stop the minimum wage from going into effect. The law was upheld for companies like MasterPark, but a King County Superior Court judge ruled that the city did not have the authority to set a wage floor at the airport itself, since it is owned by the Port of Seattle.

With that case waiting on an appeals ruling, thousands of workers employed at the airport can still legally earn below $15 per hour. The ruling, expected any week now, will determine whether or not the law will apply to those workers.

Puget Sound Sage, an advocacy group that backs the minimum wage law, estimates that more than 6,000 additional workers would be covered if the law is upheld for the airport. City Clerk Kristina Gregg told The Huffington Post that SeaTac does not track how many workers the law currently covers, but the Puget Sound Business Journal estimated that 1,100 workers received raises under the law last year.

The drivers and attendants at MasterPark feel fortunate to fall under the law. MasterPark's owners, less so.

The company operates five lots near the airport, parking travelers' cars and ferrying them to and from the terminals. Because valet parking is labor-intensive, MasterPark fell within the minimum wage law even while many automated self-parking lots near the airport did not. The company opposed the SeaTac proposal when it was being considered. Once the initiative passed, MasterPark instituted a 99-cent daily fee on top of its typical $14.95 daily parking rate. The fee, dubbed a "living wage" surcharge, is meant to absorb additional labor costs, which the company estimated at $1.4 million a year.

Jed Goniu, president of MasterPark, said he doesn't have a problem with a $15 minimum wage per se. He just wishes the law had been applied more equitably and in steps.

"We're not against a $15 minimum wage if it encompasses everybody," Goniu said. "If we're on the same playing field, with the same rules, then it's easier to compete."

But despite its own opposition to the law and the legal objections being raised by other businesses, MasterPark management made a promise to its employees after the proposal passed: Once workers started receiving a $15 wage, it wouldn't be taken away from them, even if the law crumbled in court or was repealed. The rationale was that no worker’s wages should ever be reduced.

In interviews with HuffPost, several employees said they appreciated the way MasterPark accepted a law with which it clearly wasn't thrilled.

"That's why I've worked here for nine years -- they treat us good," said Babakrkhil. (It’s worth noting that although Goniu has issues with the law, when a Huffington Post reporter showed up unannounced at his office, the company president graciously allowed the reporter to interview employees in private on company grounds.)

Not all workers have felt that their employers were as cooperative, however. Last year, three workers filed a lawsuit against Cedarbrook Lodge, claiming the hotel didn’t pay them $15 per hour and their full tips as required by the law. The lodge’s parent company denied the allegations. (A general manager at Cedarbrook had previously said he would close some of the hotel's rooms to avoid falling under the purview of the minimum wage ordinance.) Another company, a parking outfit called Extra Car, was sued by a former employee who claimed she was paid $10.32 per hour when she should have been receiving $15.

Then there are the thousands of workers at the airport who aren't covered by the law and may never be, depending on the outcome of the pending appeal. One of those workers, Michael Church, said there's a misconception that the SeaTac minimum wage applies throughout the city. Church works at the airport as a ramp agent, or "ramper," as the job is known colloquially, for an airline subcontractor called Menzies Aviation.

"It's really frustrating," Church, who has become a Fight for $15 activist, said of the litigation. "There's a lot of anticipation [among airport workers] about it."

Church, 31, makes $9.50 per hour preparing ramps for airlines such as Iceland Air, Sun Country, Virgin America, British Airways and JetBlue. Unable to afford his own apartment, he currently lives at his grandmother's house and commutes two hours each way on public transit. Church said he already knows what he would do with the extra money he would make under a $15 minimum wage.

"What I would do is I would go and get my own place," said Church. "I would be caught up on all my bills. I wouldn't be struggling to figure out how am I going to pay this."

If MasterPark is any indication, SeaTac businesses will find a way to live with the wage increase, even if it means passing some costs off onto consumers. (After the law had spent a year on the books, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported that the once-contentious measure had become a "shoulder shrug" around town.) With the airport expected to expand its capacity in the coming years, the city has only seen its hospitality sector grow since the law was passed, according to City Manager Todd Cutts, who pointed to the increased number of permits being issued for hotels. Although the city doesn't survey businesses to see if the law has stifled business growth, he said, it doesn't appear that economic disaster has ensued.

"We certainly have seen planned growth here in the community," Cutts said.

The SeaTac wage floor also brought a raise to Ashley Young, a cashier at MasterPark. Young, 27, said her hourly wage has risen by more than $3 since the law went into effect.

Asked whether the change has affected her life in any meaningful way, Young said that she's once again playing competitive softball, a favorite pastime. She had to give up the sport under her previous pay because she couldn't afford the travel costs.

"The old wage I was making before, it was kind of a struggle," Young said. "Now I'm allowed to have a little bit of fun, and a life."

Upcoming BMW Lets You Stand Outside Car While Parking It

There may soon be a solution to the woes of parallel parkers everywhere.

The forthcoming BMW’s 7 Series will maneuver into parking spots without a driver sitting in the car. The drivers navigates the control from outside the vehicle by using a new key fob, which combines a remote control and an LCD screen and can guide the car in and out of tight spots and garages.

According to Gizmodo, the car's official design hasn't been unveiled yet. No word yet on when the 7 Series will be released, either.

Check out the feature in action in this promotional video BMW released April 18:

Mercedes-Benz has a similar automated parking feature called "active parking assist," though the driver must remain in the car to operate the accelerator and brake pedal.

Though the 7 Series is not a true driverless car, it may pit BMW once more against Tesla, which announced recently that it would roll out self-driving software for its cars as early as this summer. The software update, which is for Model S sedans sold after last October, would free up drivers on long commutes on major highways. Tesla plans to equip forthcoming Model X sports utility vehicles with the autopilot feature, as well.

“We can basically go between San Francisco and Seattle without the driver doing anything,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said of the feature.

BMW released its own mass-produced electric car, the i3, early last year. At around $45,000, it is significantly cheaper than Tesla’s Model S, which has a price tag of $70,000, and drives between 80 and 100 miles between charges. BMW previously tested a "remote valet parking assistant" app on the i3, allowing the vehicle to park itself and come back to pick up the driver. But the app would require detailed maps of every parking garage, casting doubt on its practicality.

Mercedes-Benz and Google have been testing their own driverless cars in recent months. The Mercedes-Benz F015 Luxury in Motion was teased at the Consumer Electronics Show last year, and popped up in San Francisco last month.

Google also patented external airbags and bumpers for its self-driving car just a few weeks ago. The design would protect pedestrians in the case of a collision, and signals an early effort to respond to ethical debates over automated control.