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Long Beach hotels plan layoffs before living wage takes effect
Los Angeles Times ^ | 12/14/12 | Ruben Vives,Wesley Lowery

Posted on 12/18/2012 8:39:25 PM PST by jeannineinsd

One week before a new minimum wage law for Long Beach hotels goes into effect, two hotels have told employees to expect layoffs of as many as 75 people, according to union representatives.

At a confrontation with union activists Friday, a manager at one of the hotels, the Best Western Golden, denied that a local ballot measure triggered the cuts. He said bad economic conditions were to blame.

In November, Long Beach voters approved a measure requiring hotels with 100 or more rooms to pay their employees $13 an hour.

In a letter to employees posted at the hotel Monday, the Best Western said it planned to downsize and reopen under new management. Although the letter said some employees would eventually be retained, it said all employees would be without a job as of Saturday and would be eligible for $1,000 severance packages.

“All employees will be considered terminated after their last shift of duty on or before December 15, 2012,” reads the letter from General Manager Matthew Daniel.

Hotel workers and protesters confronted Daniel at a restaurant Friday morning. He blamed the economy, not the ballot measure, and declined to discuss the matter further.

When he walked away, the protesters followed him through the hotel chanting, "Si se puede."

Earlier this month, the 140-room Hotel Current told employees it would scale back to 99 rooms to avoid the wage increase. Hotel managers could not be immediately be reached for comment.

Before election day, Long Beach business leaders warned of cutbacks if the measure passed, but the living wage provision for all hotel workers won the approval of 64% of voters anyway.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Local News
KEYWORDS: california; longbeach; unions
This article is a couple of days old, but I thought it was worth some discussion.

California minimum wage is $8.00 an hour. Apparently the voters of the city of Long Beach decided that hotel workers deserve to make $13.00 an hour. The voters didn't arrange to pay the increased wages themselves, but determined that the hotel owners needed to pay the increased wages.

To me, it seemed very predictable that people would lose their jobs due to this ballot initiative, but apparently some union leaders and elected officials were surprised that some hotels laid off employees.

It apparently did not occur to the union leaders that hotel owners do not have to do business in Long Beach, they can close down and cease to do business.

1 posted on 12/18/2012 8:39:40 PM PST by jeannineinsd
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To: jeannineinsd

MERRY CHRISTMAS, IDIOTS!.........


2 posted on 12/18/2012 8:45:28 PM PST by Red Badger (Lincoln freed the slaves. Obama just got them ALL back......................)
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To: Red Badger

Ano nuevo pero no prospero.


3 posted on 12/18/2012 8:53:31 PM PST by Rembrandt (Part of the 51% who pay Federal taxes)
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To: jeannineinsd; null and void

Cause and effect is such an easy thing to understand


4 posted on 12/18/2012 9:10:02 PM PST by GeronL (http://asspos.blogspot.com)
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To: jeannineinsd

Those souls that retain their jobs will be facing burn out within a few months. When the hotels are forced to close, the socialists will preach about how it was another failure of capitalism.


5 posted on 12/18/2012 9:12:12 PM PST by oyez (Hell must be a Gun Free Zone.)
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To: Rembrandt

Puedo.......


6 posted on 12/18/2012 9:17:12 PM PST by Red Badger (Lincoln freed the slaves. Obama just got them ALL back......................)
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To: jeannineinsd

They forgot to pass Points One and Two of Directive 10-289:

In the name of the general welfare, to protect the people’s security, to achieve full equality and total stability, it is decreed for the duration of the national emergency that:

Point One. All workers, wage earners and employees of any kind whatsoever shall henceforth be attached to their jobs and shall not leave nor be dismissed nor change employment, under penalty of a term in jail. The penalty shall be determined by the Unification Board, such Board to be appointed by the Bureau of Economic Planning and National Resources. All persons reaching the age of twenty-one shall report to the Unification Board, which shall assign them to where, in its opinion, their services will best serve the interests of the nation.

Point Two. All industrial, commercial, manufacturing and business establishments of any nature whatsoever shall henceforth remain in operation, and the owners of such establishments shall not quit nor leave nor retire, nor close, sell or transfer their business, under penalty of the nationalization of their establishment and of any and all of their property...


7 posted on 12/18/2012 9:18:37 PM PST by null and void (Going Galt: The won't of the people)
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To: jeannineinsd

It’s not just the five extra dollars in each paycheck, it’s also the extra payroll taxes that have to be pulled out of the cash register. We had to reduce paychecks in order to afford the taxes when business slowed down.


8 posted on 12/18/2012 9:22:27 PM PST by skr (May God confound the enemy)
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To: GeronL
Cause and effect—better stated as “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” We only need 10 laws, they are called the ten commandments. Since when can a governmental agency dictate what you should pay? Hint: it started in 1913 with the 16th amendment.
9 posted on 12/18/2012 9:28:17 PM PST by Fungi
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To: jeannineinsd
When he walked away, the protesters followed him through the hotel chanting, "Si se puede."

How cute.

10 posted on 12/18/2012 9:29:42 PM PST by Vince Ferrer
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To: jeannineinsd

a 65% pay raise AND, most likely, having to pay health care AND being declared “wealthy” as a “S” Corp, subject to Obama’s tax on the rich.

I see no reason why one should even keep a few rooms open let alone going to 99 from 140. You can make more money on the dole - and pay no taxes to boot


11 posted on 12/18/2012 9:30:26 PM PST by llevrok (ObamaLand - Where young people go to retire.)
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To: jeannineinsd

Maybe the union should step in and make up the difference.

LOL! I kill me sometimes.


12 posted on 12/18/2012 9:39:19 PM PST by VeniVidiVici (Bathhouse Barry wants YOU to bend over for another four years)
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To: jeannineinsd

Part of the law allowed the hotels above 99 rooms to skip the increase, if they unionized. They didn’t figure that cutting down to 99 rooms would be cheaper than unions, and that hotel managers are rational actors.


13 posted on 12/18/2012 9:43:34 PM PST by Vince Ferrer
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To: jeannineinsd

Most of the hotels affected are located in downtown LB, which is strictly for business as there are no tourist attractions there. Very likely most will downsize and turn the excess rooms into long term rentals or apartments.

The Queen Mary Hotel will likely close as it has been a perennial money loser. Look for the Queen Mary to be headed to the scrap heap.


14 posted on 12/18/2012 10:17:22 PM PST by chrisinoc
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To: chrisinoc

I’m not sure who can afford to go there on business any more. On our last trip there - and not just the last one we made, the last one we will ever make - the tax and extra charges on the car rental and hotel room were more than the base charges for the car and room. Just ridiculous.


15 posted on 12/18/2012 11:02:25 PM PST by Grams A (The Sun will rise in the East in the morning and God is still on his throne.)
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To: GeronL
Cause and effect is such an easy thing to understand

Obviously not for some idiots.

16 posted on 12/19/2012 4:38:20 AM PST by dearolddad
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To: chrisinoc

What if they turn it into a flop-house? It isn’t a hotel, you rent it by the week as housing.


17 posted on 12/19/2012 5:31:29 AM PST by tbw2
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To: jeannineinsd; mickie; flaglady47
More and more we're starting to see government by referendum, propositions and initiatives.

In short, mob rule by any other name.

Mostly because legislatures don't want to vote and get on record on controversial issues.

Leni

18 posted on 12/19/2012 5:53:09 AM PST by MinuteGal (I'm Going to Update the Name That No One Dares to Utter and I'll Use It From Now On......OBAMUNISM !)
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To: MinuteGal

and what’s so special about 100 room hotels?..why not 90, or 80, or 70 rooms...


19 posted on 12/19/2012 6:11:13 AM PST by ken5050 ("One useless man is a shame, two are a law firm, three or more are a Congress".. John Adams)
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To: tbw2

The hotels will likely turn into flop houses.

Long Beach spent years trying to revitalize the downtown area, this law will kill the hotel business there.


20 posted on 12/19/2012 11:18:16 AM PST by chrisinoc
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