These Calif. workers may earn the highest minimum wage in the country
Long Beach hotel and hospitality workers may earn the highest minimum wage in the country with the passage of Measure RW. Long Beach, California, is set to raise the minimum wage for hotel workers from $17.55 per hour to $23 per hour for both union and nonunion workers, marking the highest in the country. The increase is supported by a majority of Long Beach residents, with hourly pay rates increasing to $29.50 before the 2028 Olympics. The Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy argues that the measure will stimulate $21 million of economic activity due to the multiplier effects of the living wage. However, critics, Sarah Wiltfong and Corliss Lee, director of advocacy at the Los Angeles County Business Federation and Eastside Voice, argue that the bill will increase taxpayer costs, increase living costs, and kill local jobs. The $23-an-hour wage is a win for a hospitality worker labor movement that began across the West last year.
Publicado : Hace 2 meses por Olivia Harden en Travel
Following a “hot labor summer” that saw some California hotel works arrested for protesting near Los Angeles International Airport, a coastal city is on its way to offer certain hospitality workers the best starting wage in the country.
A majority of Long Beach residents appear to have supported Measure RW in the March 5 election, which will raise the minimum wage for hotel workers from $17.55 per hour to $23 an hour for both union and nonunion workers. Beginning in July, hourly pay rates will annually increase to gradually reach $29.50 before the 2028 Olympics.
Ballot counting is still underway, but a majority of votes counted so far put the measure in a comfortable lead.
The Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy told Capitol & Main that the increase gives Long Beach hotel workers the highest minimum wage in the nation.
Long Beach City Councilmember Mary Zendejas said in a statement that “the fair wages” will “bring much needed relief for Long Beach families saddled with rising costs of living, rent and inflation.”
In comparison, hotel workers for the city of Los Angeles make $20.32 per hour for hotels with 60 or more rooms, according to the Office of Wage Standards.
The Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy said the measure will drive “$21 million of economic activity due to the multiplier effects of spending by workers affected by the living wage.”
Critics were skeptical of the measure’s benefits. Sarah Wiltfong, director of advocacy at the Los Angeles County Business Federation, and Corliss Lee, president of the neighborhood association Eastside Voice, argued that the new bill will “drive up taxpayer costs,” “increase the cost of living” and “kill local jobs.”
In an argument against Measure RW, Wiltfong and Lee said that it “contains numerous flaws and unintended consequences that will significantly increase our cost of living, threaten cuts to essential city services and hurt local small businesses.”
A majority of the votes have been tallied and the measure has received over 53% of the vote, suggesting the measure is bound to pass. The $23-an-hour wage is a win for a hospitality worker labor movement that ignited across the West last year.