Long Beach set to raise hotel worker minimum wage to $23

$23/hr! In the greater Los Angeles extended universe? That's a living wage!

Love a bit of good news. Large hotels in long beach, meaning hotels with one hundred rooms or more, will have to pay their employees $23/hr after the county's election count wraps up.

The affected workers will see the minimum wage rise from the current $17.55 per hour to $23 in July, then escalate annually to $29.50 by the time of the 2028 Olympics in and around Los Angeles. The measure guarantees Long Beach hotel workers the highest minimum wage in the nation, according to the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, or LAANE.

Mark Kreidler, Capital & Main

These results are thanks to organizing efforts by unions and advocacy groups that went knocking on doors, calling homes and meeting with voters. Measure RW, that guarantees this significant increase in quality of life to hotel employees, will have passed by just ~4,000 votes. Long Beach will have the highest minimum wage in this sector in the country, and it'll only go up from here.

Everything matters! The sun is shining!

"Long Beach is leading the way," said Ada Briceño, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11, which also campaigned for the measure. "When workers in Long Beach do better, the whole city thrives."

Mark Kreidler, Capital & Main