This op-ed was co-written by Naida C. Tushnet, PhD, a former educator who also served as the Chair on the Long Beach Commission on Aging and Vice Chair on the Long Beach Police Oversight Commission; and Luis Ortiz, a student organizer with Students for Quality Education at California State University, Long Beach.
Every worker in Long Beach deserves a living wage, and it should not matter whether they work directly with an operator or through a staffing agency. Yet, the City Council’s latest proposal to expand its living wage ordinance would allow an economic incentive for concessionaires at the Long Beach Airport and convention center to bypass direct hires in favor of temporary workers who would perform the same work at lower wages.
If the proposed policy passes as it’s currently written, it would be a step backward for a city that has been a leader in securing wage stability for workers.
Last March, voters approved Measure RW, making Long Beach the first city in the region to update its living wage policy for hospitality workers in preparation for the 2028 Olympics. Community members have been calling for the expansion of Measure RW to include workers at the Long Beach Airport and Convention Center. But in an alarming move, the Long Beach City Council’s proposal to expand Measure RW would exclude staffing agency workers — a move that deliberately denies temporary workers fair compensation and equal worker protections, leaving them exposed to labor violations like wage theft.
We are calling on the City Council to do the right thing and revise its current proposal to ensure all workers receive a living wage — regardless of the technicality of how a worker is hired. The City Council has a responsibility to keep moving our city forward, not roll back critical worker protections.
Long Beach residents overwhelmingly support policies that prioritize the well-being of workers who make our city vibrant. We know this because we knocked on hundreds of doors and spoke to voters about ballot measures that protect working-class families. Over the past two years, we joined hundreds of community members, workers and allies in writing letters, signing petitions, rallying at City Hall and engaging thousands of voters to support Measure RW.
In fact, 160 Long Beach small businesses and 70 community organizations joined the Tourism Workers Rising coalition in Long Beach to raise the wage for hotel, airport and convention center workers. This campaign is also personal for us — we’ve seen the struggle of close friends, family and neighbors facing skyrocketing rents, low wages and inflation. It is this shared experience that has deepened our commitment to the labor movement.
For Long Beach to continue its legacy of being a pro-worker city, we must include subcontracted workers in the living wage ordinance. Over the next four years, the World Cup, NBA All-Star Game and the 2028 Olympics will be coming to Los Angeles. (In the case of the Olympics, Long Beach itself will play host to several events.) These global spectacles will generate unprecedented profits across the region. Long Beach has a responsibility to ensure all workers—especially those keeping the industry running—are paid fairly.
Denying fair wages to one subset of workers performing the same job would undermine the purpose of Measure RW and create an unjust two-tier wage system. Excluding workers from living wage laws is directly tied to their ability to provide for themselves and their families.
The operator of the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center, ASM Global, is set to take on even more responsibility through its deal with the Long Beach Bowl, a new amphitheater soon to be constructed next to the Queen Mary. If companies like ASM Global want to grow and thrive in our city, they must also ensure that workers—who are the backbone of our tourism industry—share in that prosperity. Instead, workers are being left behind, forced to choose between paying their rent and buying food, living paycheck to paycheck and being priced out of Long Beach.
In March, unsettling reports surfaced of alleged wage theft and labor violations at the city-owned Convention Center, reportedly committed by one of ASM Global’s subcontractors, 1Fifty1. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, 1Fifty1 allegedly paid workers in a backroom with cash-stuffed envelopes without proper wage statements and allegedly failed to pay employees overtime wages, as required by federal and state law.
Such exploitation has no place in Long Beach, especially at a city-owned facility. These alleged violations underscore the urgent need for stronger protections for all workers — especially subcontracted ones. Long Beach must take every step necessary to protect subcontracted workers, including by preserving their protections under the Living Wage Ordinance.
If Long Beach moves forward with its proposal to exclude this subset of workers, it would be the first of its kind. Other major cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco have living wage laws in place that include subcontracted workers; this provision has always been a part of their legal framework. That’s why we’ve sounded the alarm about the dangers posed by deliberately excluding temporary workers.
The success of Measure RW made Long Beach a trailblazer for passing the highest minimum wage in the nation; cities like Los Angeles and San Diego are now following suit. Something is clear: Long Beach’s influence drives the rest of the country to follow.
Passing the wage ordinance update as it stands would be a dangerous misstep that could jeopardize our progress and the rights of workers nationwide. We should not allow Long Beach to set the substandard.
We urge the City Council to stand on principle and honor its commitment to stand with working families by ensuring every tourism worker receives the wages they deserve. Anything less would betray the very progress we’ve fought for.
