Three days of protest were not in vain. The tourism workers of Los Angeles got what they had been demanding for so long: a decent wage to be able to live in one of the most expensive cities in the country.
The Los Angeles City Council voted 12-3 today to increase the minimum wage for tourism workers at a more gradual rate and provide improved health care benefits, a move that comes as the region prepares to host several major sporting events in the coming years.
The City Attorney’s Office is expected to update the Living Wage and Hotel Workers Minimum Wage ordinances, which will come back to the City Council at a future date.
Under the proposal, the ordinances would be amended to boost hourly wages to $22.50 an hour by Feb. 1, 2025, increasing to $25 an hour by 2026, $27.50 by 2027, and $30 by 2028. Workers would also receive a health care benefit of $8.35 on a weekly basis, which takes into account the average cost of health care divided by the hours an employee works.
An initial council proposal had called for an increase to $25 per hour starting February 2025, eventually rising to $30 by 2028.
“No one should work a full-time job in the city of LA and not be able to afford a place to live,” Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said in a statement.
The vote came after more than three hours of discussion from the council and the public. Council members Traci Park, Monica Rodriguez and John Lee voted no, citing concerns over the city’s struggling tourism industry and an economic study that they say failed to capture the realities of hoteliers.
The Living Wage Ordinance applies to city contractors and ensures that employees are paid a set living wage, setting a cash wage rate and health-related benefits. The Hotel Workers Minimum Wage ordinance requires hotel employers with 60 or more guest rooms to pay their employees the specified minimum wage and provide 96 compensated hours of off time, and at least 80 additional hours of uncompensated time off per year.
Currently, airport and hotel workers earn $18.78 per hour and $19.73 per hour, respectively. Airport workers also earn a health care payment of $5.95 per hour, while hotel workers do not. The plan would allow exemptions for concessionaires with 50 or fewer employees at LAX, as well as some hotel owners under specific conditions.
Park, Rodriguez and Lee introduced several amendments to the proposal, which all failed in separate 10-5 votes. They sought an alternate schedule for such pay increases and a different health benefit plan, among other things, which they argued represented more of a compromise with the hotel industry.
They said the wage hikes would ultimately harm the hotel and tourism industry, which has yet to recover to 2019 pre-pandemic levels.
Meanwhile, a representative for Berkeley Economic Advising and Research highlighted their economic study, commissioned by the City Council, which found that implementing such a policy would create 6,300 jobs in the city, generate $1.2 billion across the L.A. region, and bring in more than $100 million more pay within four years for tourism workers.
Wage increases are expected to impact 23,000 workers, or about 40% of airport employees and 60% of hotel workers.
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