Referendum to delay tourism worker wage fails; workers urge council to implement new pay now

Los Angeles City Council members on Tuesday were briefed that an attempt to qualify a referendum to delay the tourism-worker minimum wage failed, and public commenters used the council's public-comment period to urge the council to move quickly to implement the new pay standard.

Councilmember Nithya Raman (transcript: "Mister Sotomayor Martinez" was used earlier when announcing the referendum failure) announced that the attempt to delay the minimum wage for tourism workers had failed, and she thanked workers who organized to defend the measure. "I just wanna congratulate the workers for all the work that they did to make this happen," she said on the council floor.

Public speakers at the council microphone pressed the council to put the wage into effect without delay. Alec Mesropian, speaking for BizFed LA and the LA Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress, told the council that signature verification for an opposing referendum had missed a deadline. "Signature verification for the tourism worker wage referendum were due last Friday, September 5. That deadline was missed by 3 days," Mesropian said, adding his coalition had submitted "over 100,000 valid signatures" and that his organization had asked the district attorney to investigate the verification process.

Workers and labor allies urged immediate implementation. Jovan Houston, an airport worker and member of SEIU, thanked councilmembers for supporting the living-wage ordinance and said, "We really appreciate it. Also, we just we are tired of waiting. ... It's time to pay up now." Maria Santos Gonzales and Maria Torres, workers who said higher pay would allow them to keep their homes and support families, echoed the call.

Father Mark Hallahan, speaking for clergy who supported the workers, said the faith community had walked with the workers "from the very beginning" and urged the council to ensure the wage increase was implemented as soon as possible.

The transcript shows the council also took related procedural actions later in the meeting: members posted and referred multiple items and recorded approval of several agenda items (items 1, 2, 8, 15 through 23, and 25) by a 15-0 vote and took other procedural votes including continuing item 24 to the following day, Sept. 10. The council did not, in the oral record read into the minutes during this session, announce a specific implementation date for the tourism-worker wage; public commenters repeatedly urged the council to avoid further delay.

Separately, business groups raising concerns about the verification of referendum signatures said they had requested a criminal review from the district attorney; that claim is an allegation made by a speaker representing those groups and was not confirmed by the council or the city clerk in the oral record.

The council's formal adoption steps, ordinance text and effective dates are determined by the posted legislation and subsequent clerk filings; callers and labor groups at the meeting asked the council to move from adoption to implementation without further postponement.