The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will soon consider a proposal requiring hotel and theme park workers in unincorporated areas to be paid at least $25 an hour, rising to $30 an hour by 2028, when the Summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles.
The proposal, introduced by Supervisor Janice Hahn and co-authored by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, aims to improve the living standards of workers in the tourism industry, which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns and travel restrictions.
“Too many people in our communities are working full-time jobs but they cannot pay their rent. This board has the ability to do something about it, at least for the workers in the unincorporated areas of L.A. County, and I think we should,” Hahn said.
The proposal would affect workers at hotels with more than 60 rooms, and theme parks such as Universal Studios Hollywood and Six Flags Magic Mountain2. Currently, these workers are paid $16.90 per hour, which is the minimum wage for unincorporated areas of L.A. County3.
Hahn said that a $25 minimum wage, up from the current minimum wage of $16.90, would not make these workers rich, but it would make their lives a little easier and may mean that they don’t need to work multiple jobs to stay in their homes, and they might be able to afford to live in the same place where they work1.
The proposal would also call for the wage to increase to $30 by 2028, followed by cost-of-living adjustments thereafter. Hahn said that this would align with the goal of hosting a successful Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, which is expected to generate billions of dollars in economic activity and create thousands of jobs.
However, the proposal has also faced criticism from some business groups, who argue that it would impose an unfair burden on the tourism industry and hurt its recovery from the pandemic.
Heather Rozman, president and CEO of the Hotel Association of Los Angeles, issued a statement to The Los Angeles Times criticizing the plan, which she said would “have a devastating impact on small business and local government tax revenue.”
“Maybe the supervisors can pay their county staff a minimum wage of $25 an hour first,” Rozman said.
Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, also issued a statement saying that the proposal would place “yet another burden on a tourism industry that has finally began to recover after years of hardship.”
He added that the proposal would most heavily impact “mom and pop” and minority-owned businesses.
The Board of Supervisors will vote on the proposal after its August recess on Sept. 12. If approved, it would join similar ordinances being considered by the cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The Los Angeles proposal would also affect workers at hotels with more than 60 employees, as well as some workers at LAX. It would also bring the minimum wage to $30 per hour by 2028.
