Repeal of L.A.’s $30 hotel minimum wage fails to qualify for ballot

The business group looking to repeal a $30-per hour minimum wage for Los Angeles hotel and airport workers failed to secure enough signatures to qualify the proposal for the ballot, city officials said Monday.

- BY DAVID ZAHNISER AND SUHAUNA HUSSAIN

UNION members rally in support of the $30 minimum wage at City Hall in May.

The L.A. Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress had been hoping to persuade voters to repeal the wage ordinance approved by the City Council four months ago. The referendum needed about 93,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot but fell short by about 9,000, according to a statement from interim City Clerk Petty Santos.

City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, a former organizer with the union that represents hotel workers, hailed the result.

“This outcome sends a clear message to corporate interests in LA and across the country: working people can fight and win, no matter how much money or misinformation is used to stop us,” he said in a statement.

The council voted in May to approve a series of yearly wage increases for hotel employees and workers at Los Angeles International Airport, following a two-year campaign by labor organizers.

Under the ordinance, the hourly minimum wage for those workers would increase to $22.50 in July, then $25 in July 2026, $27.50 in July 2027 and $30 in July 2028, right before the Olympic Games in L.A. But once opponents turned in their signatures, the measure was placed on hold.