Airport and hotel workers rallied at City Hall Tuesday to urge enforcement of the so-called Olympic Wage ordinance, and celebrated a recent failed attempt to force a vote on the policy.
The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk announced Monday that of the 140,774 signatures submitted by the L.A. Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress to force a referendum, 84,007 were deemed valid, short of the 92,998 needed.
There were 2,339 signatures determined to be duplicates and 17,082 signatures were withdrawn, according to the Recorder/County Clerk.
Members of the Defend the Wage LA Coalition -- composed of SEIU-United Service Workers West, Unite Here Local 11, and Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy -- gathered on the south lawn steps of City Hall to discuss what the minimum wage increase signifies to the members of those unions. Later in the morning, several members gave testimony during Tuesday's City Council meeting about the significance of the ordinance.
Javon Houston, a member of SEIU-USWW and Los Angeles International Airport workers, thanked council members for supporting the ordinance.
"We are tired of waiting. The referendum failed. Now it's time to pay up. Please don't make us wait any longer. We waited over two-and-a-half years. It's time to pay up now," Houston said.
Union leaders had lobbied for the ordinance, saying it would help members pay for rent and groceries, cover medical bills and remain in the city where they work.
In May, the City Council approved the ordinance to raise the minimum wage for hotel and airport workers to $30 per hour by 2028, and provided new health credits for employees.
However, within days, a coalition of local hospitality and tourism groups, dubbed the L.A. Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress, challenged the ordinance, contending the wage increase would only harm local businesses during a volatile time.
Some impacted business owners had previously warned that raising the minimum wage could result in layoffs.
The ordinance was suspended and did not take effect while the signatures were being reviewed. Interim City Clerk Petty Santos said that because the process has concluded, the ordinance went into effect immediately Monday.
The alliance raised concerns about the signature rescission process, both the city and county's verification process, and transparency surrounding some of the actions taken by supporters of the ordinance.
"The numbers don't lie. The opposition to the referendum had a resounding failure rate on their own signatures, but somehow managed to also have a sky-high match rate for our signers. That has never been seen before, despite over 100,000 positive signatures," the alliance said in a statement.
"This mismatch suggests foul play -- pure and simple," the statement continued.
Business leaders contended that the number of signature withdrawal requests, a total of 117,607, did not align with the total number of signatures that were withdrawn, or about 17,082, according to data from the county.
Josue Marcus, a spokesman for the L.A. City Clerk, told City News Service that a total of 17,082 were actually withdrawn but the remaining requests were not considered valid.
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The alliance sent a letter to the District Attorney Nathan Hochman two weeks ago with "evidence of criminal conduct with respect to the signature withdrawal effort." They also called for an investigation into the matter.
A representative for Hochman's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"The business community will stand strong in fighting back and ensuring Los Angeles can return to being an affordable city to work and live in," the alliance said in a statement. "The initiative process, with a lower threshold for tax reductions and eliminations, has opened up many avenues by which we can accomplish those goals, in addition to other initiatives to continue to realign the interest of City Hall with everyday Angelenos."
Additionally, the group criticized the City Clerk's office for failing to meet its charter-mandated 30-day deadline to release the results of the signature-gathering, which they described as reflecting a "broader pattern of troubling opacity that has plagued the entire verification process from the start."
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