Ontario council approves hotel worker safety ordinance and schedules special election on broader initiatives

The Ontario City Council on Thursday approved a city ordinance that requires hotels to provide personal safety devices to on-site housekeeping staff and designated on-duty managers to respond to alerts, and voted to hold a special municipal election on March 24, 2026, on two broader hotel-worker initiatives brought by Unite Here Local 11.

City Manager: the ordinance focuses on safety and mirrors parts of the initiative

City Manager (city manager) told the council the ordinance is “rather straightforward” and codifies practical safety measures — including free personal safety devices, designation of responsible on-duty managers to receive alerts and certain workplace accommodations during cleaning — while noting it does not include all of the provisions in the voter-drafted initiative. He said the ordinance aligns with “modern best practices of the hospitality industry.”

Why the vote mattered

The debate split members of the public and business groups. Hotel workers and union organizers urged the council not to alter the initiative and instead let the voter-drafted measure proceed unchanged, saying the initiative adds annual training and stronger anti-retaliation protections. “Please do not support item number 17,” Maria Garcia, who identified herself as a hotel worker and member of Unite Here Local 11, told the council. Union organizer Natasha Wang said the initiative provides “annual training of both workers and managers” and protections she said were absent from the city ordinance.

Opponents — including hotel owners, business groups and some local unions representing employers — warned the initiative and some ordinance provisions would raise operating costs, deter development and reduce city revenue. “Adopting these two harmful ordinances would threaten local jobs, jeopardize essential revenue and undo the progress the city of Ontario has made,” Michael Krause, a hotel industry representative, told the council.

Council action and next steps

After public comment and discussion, the council moved to approve the city’s safety ordinance for hotel employees; the motion carried on a 5–0 electronic vote. The council separately considered whether to adopt the broader initiatives outright but did not do so. Instead the council approved a resolution to call a special election on March 24, 2026, to place the two initiatives before voters; that resolution passed 5–0.

What the initiatives would do and staff concerns

According to city staff, the initiatives would apply city-specific requirements to hotels of 80 rooms or more and to large event centers, and would impose new employee-safety, retention and minimum-wage rules as well as voter approval requirements for major hotel or event projects. Staff raised legal and operational concerns about the initiatives’ scope — including potential jurisdictional questions related to airport contractors, recordkeeping burdens for the city, conflicts with federal agencies and the market distortion of city-only rules — and estimated a special-election cost at roughly $1.25 million.

Why residents and businesses care

Supporters said the measures protect front-line workers and were supported by more than 15,000 petition signatories. Opponents said the proposals would drive up hotel costs, discourage new development and risk a reduction in transient-occupancy-tax revenue that supports public safety and city services.

What happens next

Staff will prepare materials and logistics for the March 24, 2026, special municipal election. If voters approve one or both initiatives, those measures would become city law unless later struck down in court; staff warned of possible legal challenges given the measures’ scope. The ordinance the council adopted on Thursday goes into effect according to the city’s standard ordinance-implementation rules.