Major airlines and business leaders are pushing back against Los Angeles City Hall’s proposal to significantly raise the minimum wage foremployees at LAXby the time the Olympics hit the city.
At the center of the showdown is the city’s controversial “Olympic wage” mandateapproved last May,requiring large hotels and businesses operating at Los Angeles International Airport to steadily raise wages ahead of the2028 Olympicsuntil workers eventually earn $30 an hour along with expanded healthcare benefits.
Labor groups celebrated the law as one of the most aggressive wage mandates in the nation.
Business leaders warned the increase in pay would slam hotels, airlines, restaurants and tourism operators already battling rising costs, slowing visitor traffic and mounting economic pressure.
After failed negotiations with City Hall, business groups escalated the fight politically — taking their battle directly to voters with a measure that would let businesses stop paying the business tax.
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Backed by major airlines, hotel operators and business organizations, they gathered enough signatures to force a separatebusiness tax repealmeasure onto the November ballot.
If voters approve the repeal, Los Angeles could lose roughly $860 million a year by eliminating the city’s business tax, one of its largest revenue streams that helps fund core services and a major portion of the overall budget.
“We tried to negotiate beforehand, tried to work with council members, tried to work with labor,” Stuart Waldman, president of theValley Industry and Commerce Association, told The California Post. “No one at any point said don’t raise the wage. We said let’s just do it in a smart way.”
That ballot measure became leverage Wednesday.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
