Council Orders 'Living Wage' Ordinance Drafted for LAX-Area Hotel Workers

Worker Profiles

For over 20 years, Isabel “Segunda” Brentner has worked at the LAX Hilton, keeping her focus on her family and her job. “My priorities [were] to help my family,” says Brentner, who, along with raising her own children, cared for both her father and grandmother when they were ill. More

Enedina Alvarez, a 54-year-old single parent, says she must be both mother and father to her teenage children. Yet, with two jobs, she has barely enough money to house, feed and clothe them—and precious little time to spend with them. Although she receives health insurance through her job, she cannot afford to insure her children. Alvarez says, “I pray to God that my kids do not get sick because I cannot pay the medical bills.” More

Who Are Hotel Housekeepers?*

Nearly all hotel housekeepers are women. The majority are women of color and immigrants.

There are 1.3 million hotel workers in the U.S. and 280,000 in Canada, of whom approximately one quarter are housekeepers.

Hotel Housekeeper Work Is Dangerous Work

Hotel workers have a 40% higher injury rate (5.9%) than workers in the service sector (4.2%).

According to a recent study of company records covering thousands of employee injuries, hotel housekeepers face an injury rate of 10.4%, almost double the injury rate for non-housekeepers (5.6%).

Hotel housekeeper injuries are debilitating. Back injuries, housemaids' knee (bursitis), and shoulder pain can lead to permanent disability.

*UNITE HERE

Why We Need A

"PLAN FOR A
NEW CENTURY"

A new white paper calls on the city of Los Angeles and industry leaders to invest in the Century Corridor and its workforce. A Plan for a New Century will benefit workers, communities, hotels and the entire city. More

Council Orders 'Living Wage' Ordinance Drafted for LAX-Area
Hotel Workers
City News Service - May 3, 2006
By Art Marroquin

The City Council ordered today that a "living wage" ordinance be developed for employees working at hotels along the "Century Corridor" near Los Angeles International Airport.

"The Century Corridor, from LAX to the 405 Freeway, is really the gateway to Los Angeles," Councilwoman Janice Hahn said. "It's the first place visitors who come from all over the world see, and the the hotel workers are Los Angeles' face of hospitality."

The council's Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee first asked for the study last week, just after a commission dedicated to revitalizing Century Boulevard near LAX called on city officials to raise wages and benefits for hotel employees and create job training programs.

The Century Boulevard Corridor has the largest concentration of hotel rooms in Los Angeles County but the lowest room rates, according to a report from the Gateway to L.A. Blue Ribbon Commission, headed by former Councilwoman Ruth Galanter.

Hotel wages in the area are 20 percent lower than at downtown hotels and 30 percent lower than in Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, according to Galanter.

In addition to ordering the City Attorney's Office to draft the proposed "living wage" ordinance, the panel:

-- asked representatives of L.A. Inc. -- the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau -- to return in three weeks with a report on the status of a proposed conference center near LAX, which proponents expect to generate more business for LAX-area hotels; and

-- directed the city's Bureau of Street Services to return in 60 days with a plan to beautify the Century Boulevard Corridor, and asked Los Angeles World Airports, the agency that oversees LAX, to determine whether the Federal Aviation Administration could help fund the project.

"This is a comprehensive approach to a major problem impacting my district," said Councilman Bill Rosendahl, whose 11th District includes LAX.

"We have Century Boulevard there, where the city gets more bed tax than any other area in the city, yet it's under-appreciated by us historically," he said. "We're changing that now."