From Traffic to Tourism: Los Angeles Seeks to Hike Wages Ahead of the Olympics

On December 11, 2024, the Los Angeles City Council voted to approve a draft ordinance proposal to increase the minimum wage in the tourism industry ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. This proposal was seemingly approved to avoid threats of a strike from local unions that represent hotel, airport, and tourism employees ahead of or during the Olympics.

Council members voted 12-3 to instruct the Los Angeles City Attorney to draft the legal language needed to increase wages to a minimum of $30 per hour by July 2028. The proposed ordinance would do the following:

• The minimum wage rate for hotel and airport workers would go up in increments of $2.50 per year, starting at $22.50 per hour on July 1, 2025, and moving to $25 in July 2026, $27.50 in July 2027, and $30 in July 2028.

• Hotel housekeeping staff and desk clerks would see a 48% minimum wage rate hike over three and a half years. They would also see a new $8.35 per hour payment to cover healthcare as required under the current Living Wage Ordinance (LWO) and Citywide Hotel Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance (CHWMO).

• These increases apply to workers in hotels with at least 60 rooms.

• At Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), skycaps, cabin cleaners, and other workers would see an increase of 56% to their minimum wage by July 2028 compared to current rates set by the city’s Living Wage Ordinance. The current minimum wage at LAX under the Ordinance is $19.28 per hour.

• Healthcare payments for airport workers would jump to $8.35 per hour (compared to the current $5.95). Healthcare payments are a part of the City’s LWO. The LWO aims to ensure that employees working on City contracts are paid the City’s “living wage,” which consists of a cash wage rate and an employer’s health benefits contribution.

There is also a right-to-cure provision built into the proposal. For an employee to file a civil action for a violation of the LWO or the CHWMO, the employee must first provide written notice to the employer of the provisions of the LWO/CHWMO alleged to have been violated and the facts to support the alleged violations. If the employer does not take action to cure the alleged violations within 30 days from receipt of the written notice, then the employee may file an administrative complaint with the Los Angeles Office of Wage Standards or a civil action in court.

It is unclear when the City Attorney will return a formal draft ordinance for the city council’s final approval, but it is anticipated that this ordinance will be finalized in early 2025. Stay tuned for fast-paced developments in this area.