LA City councilman introduces motion to raise wages to $25-an-hour for tourism workers

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- As Los Angeles prepares to host games for the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics, local airport and hospitality workers are pushing for an increase in wages.

Union leaders and tourism workers - like LAX and hotel employees - gathered Wednesday morning outside L.A. City Hall to demand better wages. They want their minimum wage for to go from $16 an hour to $25 an hour.

The rally came as L.A. City Councilman Curren Price introduced a motion that seeks to raise wages to $25 an hour for tourism workers, with plans to increase pay to $30 by 2028.

Price and the SEIU United Service Workers West and Unite Here Local 11, the unions representing hotel and airport workers, want wages to be commensurate with a "world-class" tourism economy and city, he said.

The proposed ordinance, seconded by Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez, would also fix what Price called loopholes in current policies to make sure workers have adequate access to health care and housing.

One woman says she has a son and makes a little more than $19 an hour and has to do side jobs just to cover rent.

"We're essential to the Los Angeles economy," said Jovan Houston, a customer service employee at LAX. "We bring in, we export, we do everything here, so it's time for us to get our end of the stuck."

With global events like the World Cup in 2026 and Olympics in 2028, tourism workers say they want a living wage.

Price said on Twitter that his proposal would benefit individuals employed at Los Angeles-area hotels with 60 or more rooms, and workers in certain occupations at LAX such as janitors, airplane cabin cleaners, airline catering workers and security officers.

"Tourism brings billions of dollars to our economy, and the businesses benefiting from tourism workers' labor can afford to provide good jobs with fair wages," he tweeted.

Price called the living wage movement a social justice movement, and added that nearly nine of 10 tourism workers in Los Angeles are people of color.

The unions launched the Tourism Workers Rising campaign, which aims to update living wage policy and push for quality health care and worker protections.

The city's minimum wage will increase to $16.78 per hour on July 1.

The council will consider Price's motion at a future meeting.

City News Service contributed to this report.