When you were in elementary school, do you remember being asked what you wanted to be when you grew up? You might’ve answered a doctor, lawyer, basketball player, veterinarian…now housekeeper, valet or bellhop may be added to that list. Wednesday, Council adopted to raise the wages of those working at hotels with 300 or more rooms to $15.37 on July 1, 2015 not including tips. Those who work at hotels with 150 or more rooms will see their wages rise on July 1, 2016. Myself, and Councilmember Mitchell Englander voted no. Make no mistake this is a union ordinance pushed forth by councilmembers whose livelihoods are indebted to the unions. Maria Elena Durazo might as well be Council president. Dust off your resumes in time for July next year. Everyone in L.A. is going to want to work at a big hotel and you can bet the competition will be fierce. Having a Bachelor’s degree or higher might even be a requirement! There’s nothing wrong with being a domestic or wanting to work in the service field. There is purpose in all (legal) work. It’s unfortunate that one sector of our economy has been given preference due to lecherous unions who need to increase their membership ranks. I’ve said all that I can say about this flawed ordinance. We can’t have jobs without the businesses to employ these people. I hope businesses won’t be catastrophically affected, but if they are, I hope they send a message loud and clear to the city, whether that be though relocating, or putting their money behind candidates who will actually improve their bottom line, that they won’t stand for such blatant disregard of their concerns and needs. The American Hotel and Lodging Association was one such organization who made it clear that the wage hike will result in job loss, close to 1,500 jobs. Read the organizations press release and impact report here. This may be the first time an effort was conceived to better the working class with specific emphasis on the lowest wage earners, but this wage increase will beget the unintended consequence of generating perhaps the greatest unemployment increase in the last decade. These statements were well documented by several business groups during the council debate (the reports totaled over 70 pages), but they went unheeded by those councilmembers that voted in favor of the ordinance...
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 04:00:01 +0000