Los Angeles hotel operators are threatening to withdraw from agreements to provide discounted rooms for the 2028 Olympic Games over a city ordinance that will significantly boost the minimum wage for hotel and airport workers.
On Friday, the L.A. City Council will vote for a second and final time to hike the minimum wage for tourism workers to reach $30 an hour by July 2028.
The ordinance passed the first round of voting on May 14 but did not get unanimous support.
At least eight hotels say they will back out of the room block agreement if the measure passes. That agreement includes discounted rates for officials, sponsors, and even the media at hotels across the city.
The hotel operators, including Hilton, Hotel Angeleno, Hotel Per La and Hollywood Roosevelt, argue that the increased labor costs are financially unfeasible.
“Common sense says you cannot raise wages over 30% in less than a year when revenue is flat,” argued Mark Beccaria of Hotel Angeleno. If this increase in labor costs passes, we will be forced by the City to consider converting this hotel in the heart of residential Brentwood into a homeless shelter.”
“If the City continues down this path and only listens to one side of the equation, there will be hotel closures, lost jobs and lost opportunities for all,” said Kara Bartelt, General Manager of Hoxton Los Angeles.
Under L.A.’s Olympic Wage ordinance, the minimum wage for airport and hotel workers will increase incrementally. It is set to rise to $22.50 an hour in July 2025, followed by annual increases of $2.50 each July. This phased approach will see the wage reach its peak at $30 an hour by July 2028, coinciding with the start of the Olympic Games.
Supporters, including labor unions, argue the wage boost will help keep workers in the city and benefit the local economy.
“City leaders have an opportunity to ensure the Olympic and Paralympic Games benefit hard-working Angelenos, and this ordinance does just that,” Unite Here Local 11 co-president Kurt Petersen told the city council.
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