Long Beach hospitality workers are one step closer to possibly receiving wage increases starting at $25 an hour, after the city council unanimously appointed the city manager to conduct a labor market analysis.
The study will be presented to various City economic committees before heading back to the council. The City has until December to draft a measure for the 2024 ballots for voters to approve.
Long Beach voters approved a similar item, Measure N which raised the pay rate and established a minimum wage of $13 an hour for hospitality workers in the city in 2012. The measure included adjustments for inflation, which has brought the current minimum wage for hospitality workers to $17.55 as of July 1.
Hotel workers across Southern California have been on strike for the past few months, insisting on higher wages in the wake of a more expensive housing market and rising inflation.
“It’s crucial we prioritize the economic stability and the well-being of the workers who contribute to our city’s thriving environment,” said Councilmember Suely Saro who brought the item forward. “The rising cost of living in our city has created significant challenges for our hospitality workers to find affordable housing and support their families.”
By April 2020, unemployment in the hotel industry reached a peak of 39.3% and roughly 4 million hospitality jobs were lost in 2020 alone.
According to Hotel Tech Report
Over 50 hotel workers, labor union leaders and community members came to the city council meeting to voice the need for increased wages for hospitality workers.
The sentiment was the same for nearly every person who spoke during public comment—a liveable wage should be a small price to pay workers for keeping Long Beach’s tourism sector alive and well amidst the struggles of recent years.
According to the Hotel Tech Report published in May, 2018 was an all-time high for hotel profits in the United States, rounding out at $218 billion. The pandemic quickly halted these profits, and hotel workers felt the loss more than anyone.
By April 2020, unemployment in the hotel industry reached a peak of 39.3%, according to Hotel Tech Report. Roughly 4 million hospitality jobs were lost in 2020 alone.
“The workers whose stories you’ve heard this evening are workers whose daily efforts create value and wealth for this city. It is upon their work that tourism depends. They do this for us and we keep them impoverished.”
Reverend Ann Hoffman, a member of the Long Beach worker’s advocacy group CLUE Justice
Meanwhile, the hotel industry received more than $13 billion in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, according to staff reports.
Yvonne Wheeler, president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor said that she and the thousands of union members whom she represents are one paycheck away from being homeless.
“We helped to subsidize our beautiful downtown tourism redevelopment plan to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars a year with the promise that that investment will return to Long Beach residents through jobs, good wages and benefits,” Wheeler said.
According to staff reports, rent in Downtown Long Beach has more than doubled since 2012, when hospitality workers received their last wage increases.
Many speakers pointed out that the hospitality sector employs high numbers of women and minorities. Almost half of the residents who spoke to the city council Tuesday night required a Spanish translator.
Hotel Tech Reports estimates that one-third of hospitality workers in the U.S. are immigrants.
Gloria Hernandez is a worker at the Long Beach Airport and has lived in the city for almost 40 years, but teared up when she told the council that without wage increases, she will likely lose the home she’s lived in for decades.
“The workers whose stories you’ve heard this evening are workers whose daily efforts create value and wealth for this city,” said Reverend Ann Hoffman, a member of the Long Beach worker’s advocacy group CLUE Justice. “It is upon their work that tourism depends. They do this for us and we keep them impoverished.”
As the hotel industry has begun to recover to nearly pre-pandemic levels, the hospitality workforce is still lagging behind.
Hotel occupancy is just 2% shy of its 2019 levels, though staffing remains a struggle as over 300,000 hospitality jobs have still not been recovered, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association.
Vice Mayor Cindy Allen added an amendment to the item for the ballot to include sexual harassment and assault protections for hotel workers.
“If we’re investing in tourism we have to invest in the people who are welcoming people into our city,” said Mayor Rex Richardson. “How are we making sure that economic progress is not taking place on their backs, but that they are benefitting from the economic progress that our city is receiving?”
City Council unanimously approved the item, and City staff will send a report back by the end of the year. The study is expected to require outside consultants and cost between $50,000 and $100,000, according to staff reports.
