Dive Brief:
- The Los Angeles County Registrar determined that a petition for a referendum on the city’s “Olympic Wage” — an ordinance that mandates a $30 minimum wage for Los Angeles hospitality workers by the 2028 Olympic Games — had insufficient signatures, according to a city filing.
- The L.A. Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress, a coalition of tourism industry players including hotel associations, filed the petition in June with enough signatures to temporarily suspend the Olympic Wage's enforcement. Now that the signatures have been deemed insufficient, the ordinance, No. 188610, will go into effect, a Unite Here Local 11 spokesperson told Hotel Dive.
- The Defend The Wage L.A. coalition, which comprises regional unions and the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, called Monday’s announcement “a historic victory.” The L.A. Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress disagreed, citing a “lack of transparency” from the Los Angeles County Registrar, which it claims released the signature verification results “several days late in violation of the City Charter.”
Dive Insight:
Though the L.A. Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress’ petition included 140,774 signatures, 56,767 were found “not sufficient” by the county clerk, some due to duplication and others due to withdrawal requests, according to the filing.
“The business community will stand strong in fighting back and ensuring Los Angeles can return to being an affordable city to work and live in,” the L.A. Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress said in a statement obtained by Hotel Dive.
The Los Angeles County Registrar did not immediately respond to a Hotel Dive request for comment.
Supporters of the Olympic Wage say it will ensure hospitality workers benefit from the influx of tourism anticipated in coming years from events Los Angeles will host, including the World Cup and Olympics. Its detractors, however, claim higher wages will come at the cost of jobs.
Critics of the ordinance include the American Hotel & Lodging Association and the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, both of which have supported the L.A. Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress.
AHLA President and CEO Rosanna Maietta told Hotel Dive in July 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.”
“As a small business owner, [the wage hike] is tough,” AAHOA CEO and President Laura Lee Blake said that month. “Already, [owners] are facing increased costs due to inflation. Their insurance rates have skyrocketed. Their labor costs are rising. … What does that mean for the owners? Either they have to close their doors, or they have no choice but to somehow pass [costs] on to the traveling public.”
Hospitality unions, meanwhile, have lauded the law — and decried the tourism industry’s pushback.
“We won this, and it’s not fair that these companies are now just trying to take it [away],” Maria Rubio, a union worker at Flying Food Group, told Hotel Dive in July.
The Olympic Wage ordinance mandates tiered wage increases for tourism and hospitality workers in Los Angeles annually through July 1, 2029, and outlines parameters for determining annual raises in the years after.
