Los Angeles hotel owners are warning they are going to withdraw from 2028 Olympic deals now that the city has enacted a major wage hike for tourism workers, calling the move unaffordable and economically reckless.
Key Facts:
- The Los Angeles City Council has voted on a measure to raise the minimum wage for hotel and airport workers to $30 an hour by July 2028.
- At least eight major hotels—including Hilton, Hotel Angeleno, and Hollywood Roosevelt—say they will pull out of Olympic room block agreements now that the ordinance has passed.
- The wage will rise in stages: $22.50 in July 2025, increasing by $2.50 annually until 2028.
- Hotel operators argue the ordinance will lead to closures and job losses due to unsustainable labor costs.
- Supporters, mainly labor unions, claim the wage hike will help retain workers and boost the local economy.
The Rest of The Story:
The Los Angeles City Council is has voted on a controversial ordinance that would sharply raise the minimum wage for hotel and airport workers.
The phased increase would see wages reach $30 an hour just as the city hosts the 2028 Olympic Games.
The measure has now passed with full council support.
Eight hotel operators have warned they are going to withdraw from existing agreements to offer discounted rooms for Olympic officials, media, and sponsors.
These hotels include well-known names like Hilton and Hollywood Roosevelt.
The operators argue that the city’s wage hike is economically unsustainable, especially when revenues have not kept pace with costs.
Critics say the measure fails to consider the business side of the equation.
Some hotel leaders are even suggesting the possibility of repurposing their properties—including turning them into shelters—if profitability collapses under the pressure of increased labor costs.
Commentary:
This is economic suicide dressed up as virtue signaling.
Once again, Los Angeles is allowing ideology to steamroll economic common sense.
The city’s attempt to inflate hotel and airport worker wages to $30 an hour may look noble on paper, but it risks gutting the very industry it’s trying to uplift—just in time for the world’s spotlight at the Olympics.
It’s no surprise hotels are threatening to back out of Olympic agreements.
The math doesn’t lie: labor costs up 48%, revenues flat.
It’s a recipe for closures, layoffs, and shuttered properties.
The claim that this will “benefit the local economy” rings hollow when thousands of workers could be left jobless due to forced wage inflation.
You can’t force businesses to pay unsustainable wages and expect them to keep their doors open.
These hotel operators are not being unreasonable—they’re being realistic.
Offering discounted Olympic lodging while simultaneously being hit with skyrocketing payroll expenses is incompatible.
Los Angeles leaders should have learned from their fast food debacle.
That policy also hiked wages, and the result was catastrophic—over 1,000 closures and 16,000 lost jobs.
Now, they’re repeating the same mistake with a different industry.
The outcome will be just as disastrous, if not worse, given the international stakes of the Olympics.
Unions may applaud the wage increases, but workers won’t be clapping when their hotels shut down.
A $30 hourly wage is meaningless if the job disappears.
What’s worse, there will be no fallback employment as businesses fold under pressure.
The city seems more focused on appeasing labor activists than ensuring a functional economy.
Hotels aren’t the villains here—they’re simply adapting to survive in an increasingly hostile business climate.
If they’re forced to convert into shelters or slash services, that’s on City Hall.
This is a textbook example of policy created in an ideological vacuum.
No balance, no compromise—just a one-sided vision that’s out of touch with economic reality.
The Bottom Line:
As Los Angeles pushes a steep wage hike ahead of the 2028 Olympics, hotel operators warn the move could lead to canceled room deals, closed properties, and lost jobs.
The city is risking its tourism backbone to satisfy labor demands without regard to business viability.
If passed, the ordinance could backfire on workers and tourists alike—making the Games more expensive and less accessible.
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