SEATTLE (AP) — Several companies that provide transportation and hospitality services at or near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport have agreed to settle back-pay lawsuits alleging that they ignored the nation's first $15-per-hour minimum wage law. The settlements will put more than $12 million in the pockets of their current and former workers.

The suits are among about two dozen against businesses that include rental car agencies, hotels and parking lots in the city of SeaTac, which adopted its minimum wage law in 2013.

Many employers questioned the law's validity and declined to immediately follow it. The state Supreme Court upheld it a year ago.

The biggest settlement so far comes from Menzies Aviation, which provides baggage-handlers and ramp workers at the airport. It agreed to pay $8.2 million to settle claims on behalf of more than 700 workers.

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