Posted on 11/19/2012 10:07:51 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Long Beach voters took to the polls on Election Day and overwhelmingly cast their support for a living wage (or minimum wage, depending on choice of terminology) of $13 per hour for workers in the citys largest hotels. The earliest the law would likely take effect is December 21.
In terms of what message voters sent . . . it affirms that the City of Long Beach was ready to really look at how quality of life issues matter, regardless of what level of employment or which sector you work in, Councilmember Suja Lowenthal told the Business Journal.
As of November 13, more than 73,500 voters agreed compared with nearly 43,200 who said no to Measure N. Moreover, the ballot measure passed in all nine city council districts (as of press time, several thousand ballots remained uncounted by the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters office).
You say raise the minimum wage and people agree with that, Leigh Shelton, spokesperson for UNITE HERE Local 11, the union responsible for Measure Ns appearance on this years ballot, told the Business Journal. She noted that voters in the cities of San Jose and Albuquerque, New Mexico, also passed minimum wage ordinances November 6 of $10 and $8.50 per hour, respectively. The minimum wage across the Golden State is $8 an hour.
But the Long Beach measure is unique because it does not apply to all workers in the city, but rather only to workers in hotels with 100 rooms or more.
Measure N also imposes a mandatory 2 percent annual increase in pay regardless of job performance or economic climate, guarantees five paid sick days per year and assures that workers receive 100 percent of guest services charges, such as mandatory gratuities attached to room service...
(Excerpt) Read more at lbbusinessjournal.com ...
100% tip mandated by law! Nice! Not!
You can vote for a minimum wage for a private company’s employees?
How does someone live on $13 a hour in Long Beach, California. I find it shocking the hotels were paying less than this.
I am confused.
Does the city own these hotels? Are they public property?
How does a local government get involved in such issues?
It's Norman Rockwell's America verses the Borg.
Two results of this.
1. Rise in unemployment in the hotel industry.
2. More hotels with 99 rooms or less.
Worth reading the entire article. Hotels with unions are exempt from this law, and most union workers are making less than the wage set by this new law.
Under this law, hotels will be encouraged to recognize a union to get a lower wage. The unions would get monthly dues from the hapless maids.
Sounds like one big scam.
I’m a lawyer familiar with these issues, and I’m pretty confused on this measure. I thought that in order to impose something like this, they needed a “hook” of some sort such as public funds. Maybe not.
Why does the Federal government mandate that an employer has to pay someone $7.25 an hour? How is that their business?
In California cities have the ability to impose minimum wages ... or outright union power grabs like this, too.
I now see any hotel with 110 rooms gaining 11 broom and linen closets.
Economic illiterates. EVERY single small and medium sized business owner I know in the OC (the most conservative and economically viable part of California) is making plans to leave and take their businesses to points South, esp. Texas. Mostly over Prop 30.
This includes me.
We’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues. Gone by March.
The idiots who voted for this don’t matter. There won’t be much of a viable hotel business left in Southern California in 9 months...
“Why does the Federal government mandate that an employer has to pay someone $7.25 an hour? How is that their business?”
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I understand your point, but this is a different issue.
WTF? Why stop at $13 per hour? Why not make it $50 per hour? Not like the “locals” will be paying for hotels anyway.
thanks I will read it. still 13 dollars an hour is really low for somebody trying to live in Long Beach California
Irrelevant. Every attempt to screw around with the free market has resulted with unintended but predictable bad results.
Irrelevant. Every attempt to screw around with the free market has resulted with unintended but predictable bad results.
Sounds like extortion to me.
I’m sure we’d welcome them here in Denton, as long as they don’t try to make this another California.
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