A planned $30 per hour minimum wage for hotel and airport workers in Los Angeles could be delayed amid efforts by a political coalition backed by the American Hotel and Lodging Association, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.
The Los Angeles City Council last week voted 9-6 to approve changes to LA Ordinance 188610, which took effect in 2025 and institutes yearly minimum wage increases for workers at airports and hotels with 60 or more rooms, leading to a $30 per hour wage by July 1, 2028. The recent City Council vote opens the door for that step up in wages to be delayed to 2030.
The ordinance is often referred to as the "Olympic Wage," and was enacted to compensate workers for anticipated tourism spikes around the FIFA World Cup in 2026, Super Bowl LXI in 2027 and the 2028 Summer Olympic Games.
"The City Council today took an important step to provide the hotel industry with the relief it desperately needed," said AHLA president and CEO Rosanna Maietta in a statement on Tuesday. "While not perfect, this bill slows rapidly increasing operating costs amid declining travel demand."
AHLA, Delta and United contribute to the LA Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress, which has been working to overturn the ordinance. United and Delta each fed almost $1.5 million to the coalition last year, according to their publicly available lists of corporate political contributions. The AHLA has directly donated at least $92,000 to the alliance and provided it with a $500,000 loan, according to the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission.
The City Council's decision to amend the ordinance came about after the LA Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress gathered enough signatures to put the repeal of LA's gross receipts tax—one of the city's primary revenue streams—to a public vote in November.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the coalition has said it will drop its campaign to eliminate the gross receipts tax if the City Council delays the wage mandates.
AHLA has argued that hotels are struggling to keep up with rising operational costs and that the wage mandates are driving hotels to cut staff, reduce hours, cancel expansion projects or close altogether. In an April report commissioned by AHLA, an Oxford Economics analysis projected that the ordinance would result in the elimination of 14,000 hotel worker positions and $169 million in lost annual tax revenue once fully implemented.
The Asian American Hotel Owners Association, which also opposed the ordinance, last week released a statement backing the City Council's decision.
"Many hotel owners, particularly small business and family-owned operators, continue to face rising labor costs, increased insurance premiums, higher taxes, and ongoing operational challenges," AAHOA chairman Rahul Patel said in a statement. "Delaying implementation provides an opportunity for meaningful discussions that can lead to a more balanced and sustainable solution for workers, hotel owners, and the city."
The City Council is expected to revisit this issue this week.