the

minimum

wages of workers

taller

hotels and Los Angeles International Airport would rise to $30

an hour

by 2028

below

a proposal submitted Wednesday by several members of the Los Angeles City Council.

Councilmembers Curren Price and Katy Young-Yaroslavsky introduced a motion for a city bill that would raise the wages of hotel workers by more than 60%

guest

Rooms. Certainly

categories types

of LAX employees, including security officers and janitors, would also be covered.

The motion was supported by Councilors Heather Hutt, Tim McOsker, Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Hugo Soto-Martinez.

Price, who chairs the city’s economic development committee, told reporters Wednesday that hotels and planes are “filling up” as the pandemic subsides. The vast majority of people who would see their wages rise under the proposed law are people of color, he said.

“This is a human rights issue,” Price said. “It’s a matter of being honest.”

Two existing laws passed by the city council require larger hotels to pay more than $18 an hour to employees, higher than the city’s minimum wage of $16.04.

This last proposal is intended to consolidate those two regulations.

Peter Hillan, spokesperson for Hotel Assn. of Los Angeles, which has about 250 members, said LA hotels are still recovering from

pandemic closures and would be closed to guests during the pandemic. Those companies will

struggling with the cost of an extra pay raise.

“It’s proposals like this that have led to the city’s reputation as a tough place to do business and work,” Hillan said. “Enough is enough.”

Two other groups, the Asian

–

American

Hotel owners Assn. and the California

Hotel & Accommodation Assn.

and the California Hotel & Lodging Association

joined Hotel Assn. from Los Angeles

on

Wednesday against the proposal.

Unions Unite Here Local 11 and Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West are pushing for the initiative.

SEIU-USWW member Jovan Houston, 40, told reporters at a news conference Wednesday that she makes $19.04 an hour from her job as a LAX security guard. That’s not enough to cover her $1,500-a-month rent, she said, so she’s been taking part-time jobs as a beautician.

“I struggled,” Houston said. “It’s hard work at LAX.”

The motion tabled by city councilors lists the city’s investment in tourism-related initiatives in preparation for the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics. Even as LA spends a lot of money preparing for the sporting events, workers are “facing with housing insecurity as Los Angeles grapples with an unprecedented housing and homelessness crisis,” the motion states.

The motion asks the city’s chief legislative analyst to report on the economic impact of raising the hourly wage to $25 this year, and by $1 each year, to $30 an hour by 2028. It asks ​​​​also to the city attorney to begin drafting the wage ordinance.

Hotels

of

a unionized workforce is expected to be exempt from paying the higher hourly wage if employees agree in their contracts to waive that option.

Such exemptions are controversial and have been criticized by some trade unionists and outside groups. Opponents argue

That

proposed wage mandates, as introduced on Wednesday

by the councillors

are intended to pressure companies to allow workers to join a union.

Proponents of the exemptions argue that the exemptions allow union members to receive other benefits, such as health insurance, that ultimately count toward their full pay package.