After 609 days of advocacy and mobilizations, Council set to make critical vote
Contacts:
(UNITE HERE Local 11) Maria Hernandez, 623-340-8047 ; mhernandez@unitehere11.org
(SEIU-USWW) Sebastian Silva, 619-754-3350 ; Sebastian.silva@seiu-usww.org
(SEIU-USWW) Maria Elena Jauregui, 818-355-5291
(LAANE) Michelle Parias, 626-733-8595 ; mparias@laane.org
WHO: Hundreds of workers rally outside of City Hall as dozens of airport and hotel workers, clergy and community leaders go on Day 3 of Fast for Our Families.
WHAT: Day 3 of hunger fast ahead of Council vote on moderninzing the living wage to $30/hour and improve healthcare coverage for LAX & tourism workers.
WHEN: 7:30AM Wednesday December 11, 2024
7:30am: Morning program begins with anointment and rally as fasting workers head into council chambers
10am: Los Angeles City Council meeting starts, vote on moderninzing the living wage to $30/hour and improve healthcare coverage for LAX & tourism workers.
After vote: Breaking of the fast
Los Angeles, CA – As fasting tourism workers go into Day 3 of Fast for Our Families outside Los Angeles city hall dozens of cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, airport workers, and allies will pack the chambers urging the City Council to support the Economic, Community Development and Jobs Committee’s strong recommendations for an Olympic Wage. Most significantly, the proposed Ordinance updates Los Angeles’ existing wage ordinances by raising tourism workers’ wages to $30 an hour by the time the Olympics come to Los Angeles in 2028 and ensuring workers have access to quality family health coverage.
While the tourism industry is poised to continue to grow as Los Angeles gears up to host the 2026 World Cup, 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and other mega-events, wages remain insufficient for tourism workers to continue to live in Los Angeles and surrounding cities as the region grapples with an unprecedented housing and healthcare affordability crisis. Over the last year, ten thousand hotel workers have won historic wage increases in the largest hotel strike in U.S history led by UNITE HERE Local 11, and thousands more in airports and hotels would benefit from the City of Los Angeles passing an Olympic Wage.
The Tourism Workers Rising coalition of over 150 community organizations and 360 small businesses across Los Angeles is urging city leaders to vote yes on this strong policy that will improve the lives of thousands of tourism workers, and have positive multiplier impacts throughout the economy, including $1.2 billion net income gains in the region as a whole, according to an economic impact report commissioned by the City.
Since this policy was introduced in April 2023, airport and hotel workers have continuously shared testimonies at City Hall of their struggle to afford housing, facing eviction, needing to commute for hours, and not having adequate health coverage. It has been over a decade since there was a significant update to the wage protections in the City’s tourism sector.
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The Tourism Workers Rising coalition comprises UNITE HERE Local 11, SEIU-United Service Workers West, LAANE, and more than 150 additional supporting organizations.