‘Living Wage’ Deal Struck

The Los Angeles City Council and city business leaders have reached a compromise on the controversial measure to expand the city’s living wage ordinance to include hotel workers near Los Angeles International Airport. The City Council voted to repeal the ordinance it passed last year and adopt a new compromise measure. Under the agreement, 3,500 hotel workers near the airport will receive a pay raise as soon as the ordinance passes and a full living wage by July. The first annual cost of living adjustment will go into effect Jan. 1, 2008. The agreement also creates an economic overlay zone on the Century Corridor to “encourage investment through the workforce education, marketing and street improvements,” according to the mayor’s office. The city also agreed to create protocols for legislators to follow in cases of future living wage expansion efforts, including considering its effects on industry, consumers and workers. The LAX-area living wage change will also be evaluated after one year. A study of health insurance availability for workers under the living wage will be completed within six months, the mayor’s office said. The agreement is the latest in a months-long debate over expanding city’s living wage ordinance. The council approved extending the living wage measure to LAX-area hotels last fall, a move that was met with fierce criticism from business advocacy groups and hotel owners, many of whom feared the ordinance could spread to other areas of the city. The groups gathered 109,000 signatures in opposition, which forced the measure to a referendum and the City Council to either completely rescind the law or place a compromise on the ballot. The new elements will be incorporated into a new ordinance by the city attorney. Click here to read about the Valley reaction last December to the ordinance.