As holiday travel gets underway at LAX, airport workers are pushing for pay increases.
Service Employees International Union workers rallied outside of terminals 1 and 2 on Wednesday, calling for a modification to Los Angeles’ Living Wage Ordinance to boost the minimum wage for tourism workers.
“We're talking about a multi-billion dollar industry, they have record profit,” LAX worker Tim Maddox told KNX News’ Pete Demetriou. “We want to go towards $30 an hour. Now, we know we won't start right away at that, but we want to have a minimum of $25 and go up from there.”
With L.A. expected to see an influx in tourism thanks to 2026 FIFA World Cup games (although that might be up in the air), the 2027 Super Bowl and 2028 Olympics, SEIU spokesman Sebastian Silva said workers deserve to benefit from the windfall.
“What we're going to see are more investments. I mean, look around, there's construction at LAX at every time,” he said. “We're seeing more and more investments in the tourism industry as a whole in the city of Los Angeles, and workers want their slice of that too.”
The City Council’s Trade and Tourism Committee is slated to consider the wage increase next year. Union members are hoping for an initial boost to $25, with the rate reaching $30 by 2028.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok
