Alliance for
Economic Fairness
Facts About LA’s Unfair $30 Wage Ordinance
A powerful and well-connected special interest, calling themselves Tourism Workers Rising, is pushing Los Angeles leaders to adopt an unfair and deeply flawed proposal —$30 Wage Ordinance — that advances their political agenda while hurting the rest of Los Angeles’ working families with a slew of unintended consequences. The ordinance would require nearly all hospitality-related and airport businesses to raise employee pay to $30 an hour despite the fact the Los Angeles’ travel industry has still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. The proposal is not the solution to Los Angeles’ affordability problem.
Unfairly Threatens Funding for Critical Local Services
The hospitality industry generates hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue for Los Angeles.
- Increasing costs for all hospitality-related businesses will force price increases, driving visitors to less expensive destinations outside of Los Angeles.
- LA’s hospitality industry remains below pre-pandemic levels. LAX is projected to have 6 percent fewer passengers in 2024 than in 2019, and LA’s visitor spending in 2022 was 11 percent below 2019 levels.
- Currently, the 14 percent transient occupancy tax (TOT) hotel and motel owners are required to charge guests generates about $350 million each year, nearly all of which goes to the city’s General Fund.
- If the proposal pass, Los Angeles will lose tens of millions of dollars annually in existing TOT revenue that funds critical programs for homelessness, public safety, education, and other social safety net initiatives — just as the city is facing future budget deficits.
Unfairly Hurts Small and Minority-Owned Businesses
The $30 minimum wage ordinance will permanently disadvantage small businesses.
- This disproportionately hurts local small businesses, many of which are owned by women and people of color who have historically been discriminated against — contributing to economic consolidation and decreasing diversity.
- The ordinance creates insurmountable barriers of entry for entrepreneurs, including those from marginalized communities, in Los Angeles just as the city is about to host the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics.
- This unfair proposal will lead to job cuts by these small businesses, or even business closures as small businesses are unable to absorb the 66 percent increase in wage costs.
Unfairly Puts Other Union Jobs at Risk
Targeting the hospitality industry with a wage increase puts local city employees and well-paying union jobs at risk.
- If travelers are forced to stay outside the City of Los Angeles, it will decrease the TOT revenue the city government receives. This decrease in tax revenues will reduce city funding for city jobs and services.
- Furthermore, increasing costs for hospitality-related businesses discourages new development and renovations to existing businesses in the city, jeopardizing well-paying, union construction jobs.
Unfairly Puts Union Jobs at Risk
Targeting the hospitality industry with a wage increase puts local city and county employees and well-paying union jobs at risk.
- If travelers are forced to stay outside Los Angeles, it will decrease the tax revenue the city and county government receives. This decrease in tax revenues will reduce city and county funding for city jobs and services.
- Furthermore, increasing costs for hospitality-related businesses discourages new development and renovations to existing businesses, jeopardizing well-paying, union construction jobs.
The LA City Council’s Action Unfairly Bypasses Collective Bargaining to Elevate a Select Few
It’s unfair for members of the City Council to change the law to benefit one sector of the workforce, while hard-working families in other sectors earn much less but face the same high cost of living.
- Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) employees, who just collectively bargained for a new contract, earn a $22.52 minimum wage. The new LAUSD contract increased the minimum pay for the education community by 20 percent over three years. Under the proposal being pushed by Tourism Workers Rising, hospitality-related businesses would be hit with up to a 66 percent wage increase.
- All other employees in Los Angeles, especially those working for small businesses, are only eligible for the city’s minimum wage of $16.78.
Vast Majority of Hard-Working Families are Left Behind
It’s unfair for Los Angeles officials to change the law to benefit one sector of the workforce, while hard-working families in other sectors earn much less but face the same high cost of living.
- Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) employees, who just collectively bargained for a new contract, earn a $22.52 minimum wage. The new LAUSD contract increased the minimum pay for the education community by 20 percent over three years. Under one proposal being pushed by Tourism Workers Rising, hospitality-related businesses would be hit with up to a 66 percent wage increase.
- All other employees in Los Angeles, especially those working for small businesses, are only eligible for the city’s minimum wage of $16.78.
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Join our coalition to ask Los Angeles leaders to stop the Unfair $30 Wage Ordinance and protect Los Angeles residents and small businesses from a slew of unintended consequences.