Dive Brief:
- Hotel industry associations including the American Hotel & Lodging Association and the Asian American Hotel Owners Association slammed Los Angeles’ $30 minimum wage for hotel workers, which will proceed despite tourism industry players’ effort to overturn it via referendum.
- In statements issued Monday and Tuesday, AAHOA Chairman Kamalesh Patel called the wage “a major setback for Los Angeles’ small business hotel owners,” while AHLA President and CEO Rosanna Maietta said the wage’s “economic toll” will “extend far beyond the hospitality sector.”
- Los Angeles’ County Registrar announced Monday that a referendum to overturn the wage, which was backed by hotel associations and other tourism industry players, did not qualify to be placed on the city ballot.
Dive Insight:
Now that the referendum petition has been rejected, the ordinance, No. 188610 — often called the “Olympic Wage” — will go into effect, a spokesperson for hospitality union Unite Here Local 11 told Hotel Dive on Monday.
“Today’s decision denies Angelenos the opportunity to voice their opposition to this flawed proposal,” Maietta said in a statement Monday. “It’s clear that the ordinance will jeopardize jobs, push hotels to the brink of closure, severely cut tax revenue the city desperately needs, and leave the city grossly unprepared for the 2028 Olympic Games.”
Maietta previously told Hotel Dive that the ordinance could result in the “elimination of at least 15,000 jobs and the loss of hundreds of millions in critical tax revenue the city depends on.”
Patel said the lack of referendum on the wage is proof that L.A. “rushed forward with a policy that ignores economic realities and jeopardizes the very jobs and businesses that keep this city’s hospitality sector strong and driving the city’s economic growth.
“Family-owned hotels now face impossible choices — cutting staff, halting hiring, or raising rates — just as Los Angeles should be preparing to welcome millions of visitors from around the world in celebration of the World Cup and 2028 Olympics,” he said in a statement.
AAHOA President and CEO Laura Lee Blake echoed Patel’s sentiment, noting that the mandate “represents a 70 percent wage hike above California’s 2025 minimum wage.”
“This approach threatens to strip more than $114 million each year from hotels, funds that should be invested instead into keeping workers employed and ensuring Los Angeles remains a competitive, thriving global destination,” Blake added.
The Olympic Wage ordinance mandates tiered wage increases for tourism and hospitality workers in Los Angeles annually through July 1, 2029.
The ordinance’s supporters, including hospitality union Unite Here Local 11, say the ordinance will ensure tourism workers benefit from the influx of visitors L.A. is expecting for coming events, including the Olympics and World Cup.
The Defend The Wage L.A. coalition, which comprises regional unions and the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, called Monday’s announcement from the L.A. County Registrar “a historic victory.”
