Los Angeles just raised minimum wages for hotel and airport workers to $30 per hour by 2028, sparking fears of lost jobs, business closures, and housing conversions.
**Key Facts:**
– The new law increases hotel and airport worker wages to $25 per hour by 2025 and $30 per hour by 2028.
– Businesses that do not provide health insurance must add an extra $8.35 per hour in health benefits.
– Hotels warn these changes may force some to close or convert into homeless housing.
– The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce says city revenues could drop, threatening public budgets.
– Several council members opposed the measure, but it still passed.
**The Rest of The Story:**
Los Angeles City Council’s decision imposes a series of wage increases for hotel and airport employees over the next few years, pushing the hourly rate to $30 by the time the city hosts the Olympics in 2028.
Supporters claim it will boost worker earnings, but local hotel owners and their representatives argue it will drive up costs and reduce tourism revenues at a time when the city is still recovering from fewer travelers.
Although a city-backed study predicts job gains, hotel operators doubt those findings.
They point to the slow rebound in travel, rising operating expenses, and recent data showing minimal growth in fast food employment after a similar pay hike.
In their view, the city’s largest industries now face hefty payroll bills, shrinking profits, and the looming possibility of halting expansion plans.
L.A. City Council backs $30 minimum wage for hotel and LAX workers in 2028 https://t.co/8Pf5O5ScII pic.twitter.com/NV4PZf19Kw
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) December 12, 2024
**Commentary:**
Raising the minimum wage this drastically is beyond reason. By forcing businesses to pay well above their means, the city is effectively sentencing numerous hotels to shutter and tossing countless employees out of work.
In a competitive world, such policies will leave Los Angeles looking like a ghost town of boarded-up lobbies and empty gift shops.
This measure is a textbook case of progressive policies backfiring.
By catering to short-term demands, California voters are once again pushing their economy toward slow collapse.
The city’s leaders have just set fire to their own economic engine, ensuring that the workers they claim to help will instead lose their livelihoods.
**The Bottom Line:**
In the name of lifting wages, Los Angeles has chosen a path that may gut its hospitality industry.
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Unless reversed, this decision could transform one of America’s iconic cities into a cautionary tale of economic mismanagement.