Long Beach council backs plan to modernize airport and convention center minimum wages, directs ordinance drafting with threshold for temp workers

The Long Beach City Council on Jan. 7 directed the City Manager and City Attorney to prepare an ordinance updating minimum wages for concession workers at the Long Beach Airport and Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center and to strengthen compliance and service-charge provisions.

The council asked staff to pursue the moderate-impact option presented by Economic Development staff and to include a modification: temporary workers provided by staffing agencies would become eligible for the minimum-wage provisions after accumulating more than 960 hours in a single fiscal year.

Why it matters: The step is intended to extend living-wage protections aligned with Measure RW to airport and convention-concession workers while balancing the facilities' fiscal constraints and existing collective bargaining agreements. Council members said they wanted to protect workers without harming the convention center's competitiveness or jeopardizing a proposed capital investment at the airport.

What staff presented: City staff and the Airport Director laid out three broad approaches:

- Option 1 (status quo): allow operators and labor partners to continue collective bargaining without an immediate citywide ordinance change. - Option 2 (moderate impact): amend Long Beach Municipal Code (LBMC) Chapter 16.60 to align the convention center wage schedule with Measure RW's hotel/restaurant schedule (beginning at $23/hour and phasing to $29.50 by July 1, 2028), defer airport implementation until after the airport's existing collective bargaining agreement expires in 2027, and strengthen compliance and service-charge language. The staff report said Option 2 would add about $400,000 in expenses to the convention center in FY25 and raise the center's annual deficit from roughly $1.8 million to about $2.2 million, an amount staff said the City could manage. - Option 3 (broader application, higher impact): make the wage changes retroactive to July 1, 2024, and apply earlier at the airport; staff said this could increase the convention center deficit by nearly $1 million and could jeopardize a proposed $5.3 million capital investment at the airport.

Johnny Vallejo, Deputy Director of Economic Development, told the council, "The Long Beach municipal code chapter 16.60 sets the minimum wage for these facilities at $17.97 per hour" and summarized the proposed Measure RW-aligned wage schedule in the moderate-impact scenario: $23 an hour on adoption, $25 on July 1 of the year shown, with a phase to $29.50 by July 1, 2028. Airport Director Cynthia Guidry explained concession contracts and noted the airport's reliance on concession commissions to cover operating costs.

Public comment: Nearly 20 speakers addressed the council. Organizers from labor and worker-advocacy groups pressed the council to include subcontracted and temporary agency workers immediately. Andre Donato and Victor Sanchez (labor advocates) said excluding agency workers would create a perverse incentive to contract out jobs to avoid paying higher wages. Convention center employees and union representatives including Unite Here Local 11 asked the council to ensure the ordinance covers subcontracted staffing so the living-wage increase benefits all concession workers.

Council deliberation and motion: Councilwoman Sorrow, who requested the item and led the study, moved to adopt Option 2 (moderate impact) with a modification: include temporary workers hired through staffing agencies within LBMC 16.60.04's compensation provisions after they accumulate more than 960 hours in a fiscal year (aligned with existing city practice for temporary staffing thresholds). The council accepted the motion and the motion carried.

Implementation notes: Staff emphasized contractual and legal constraints. The city's contracts with the convention center operator (ASM Global) run through Sept. 30, 2029, and staff said the operator is negotiating and has expressed support for higher wages; the airport operator's concessions contract expires in 2027 and a proposed $5.3 million investment by a concessionaire would require contractual re-evaluation if wages change earlier. City staff were instructed to prepare ordinance language, coordinate with operators and labor partners, include strengthened compliance and service-charge definitions, and return with implementation details to enable the council to track fiscal impacts.

Looking ahead: The council asked staff to include data collection and reporting on the ordinance's fiscal and workforce impacts and to return with detailed draft language for first reading. The city's action positions Long Beach to align concession wages more closely with Measure RW while attempting to mitigate short-term fiscal disruptions and preserve planned capital investments.