Latest news with #OlympicWage
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The 'Olympic Wage' Debate Could Return to the Ballots in 2026
The 'Olympic Wage' Debate Could Return to the Ballots in 2026 originally appeared on L.A. Mag. Thousands of cooks, room attendants, dishwashers and airport employees across Los Angeles were set to make more than any other minimum-wage worker in the country, but the pushback from business owners and industry giants like United Airlines, Delta, Hilton and Marriott proves they won't go down without a a move to try and halt the rollout, which Mayor Bass signed into law last Tuesday, the defense campaign has until June 30 to secure 93,000 signatures from registered L.A. voters to qualify the measure so it reappears on next year's ballot.'We're the industry. We need to make sure what we fought so hard for is defended,' said Maria Torres, who would've been eligible for the pay increase — but now her time in the state of California is in who speaks only Spanish, said this extra money would be incredibly helpful in supporting her and her husband, whose rent just went up by $300 this month. Originally from Honduras, she often sends whatever she can spare back to family in her home country, but she said she barely has enough to live on herself right now. She and her husband are planning on moving to Louisiana if nothing extra money could go to her housing and healthcare will instead go to their second yacht, she said. 'People can't afford to live in Los Angeles,' says Kurt Petersen, president of Unite Here Local 11, an organization that represents over 30,000 hospitality workers, including Torres. 'Restaurants are struggling…because not enough people eat at them because not enough people have enough money.'Petersen says the larger corporations argue that this will cost the tourism industry millions, and will imperil the L.A. economy. But this ballot initiative, he says, will cost United, Delta and its hotel partners millions — and those millions could go towards paying their workers instead of arguing.'Every dollar that hotel workers, airport workers have in their pocket is one dollar they spend in the community,' he said. 'That's the beauty of this law. Workers spend their paychecks in local restaurants, local businesses, and that's the kind of economy we want.'One major selling point to sign is the threats made by at least eight hotels to pull out of a deal struck to accommodate personnel needed for 2028's Summer Olympic Games, to be held in Los Angeles. Jessica Durrum, the director of Tourism Workers Rising, calls this move 'another greedy tactic' by hotel chains, whose contractual obligations to the Olympics are due in part by the public subsidies given to them to build their lodging in big names in hospitality is no picnic for Tourism Workers Rising. The leaders of these companies always claim tourism is in jeopardy — that 'the sky is falling,' Durrum with the Super Bowl, World Cup and the Olympics, she assures, the sky will never fall.'It's so upsetting for workers…They thought they had this,' Petersen said. 'I mean, it's like grand theft larceny by the modern day robber.' This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jun 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Shiels: From Detroit to Hollywood - news anchor traveled to Tehran and elsewhere
KTLA TV's award-winning morning news anchor Frank Buckley stepped off a stage for the second time in a day, this time at the noon hour in the sold-out ballroom of Loews Hollywood Hotel, after emceeing the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce luncheon featuring Mayor Karen Bass. LA's 71-year-old leader had come to be interviewed by Buckley and share news of 'Recovery, Resilience, and Resolve.' Travel, tourism and the region's upcoming world events were touch-point topics. 'We will be able to pull off next year's World Cup soccer…and we would like a 'car-free' Olympics in 2028 - shuttling people to and from the venues by using 3,300 buses. It is a national effort,' Bass said. When asked about the idea of flying taxis, she shrugged and then joked about the driverless taxis already in use: 'I am still having a hard time with Waymo.' LA's 46,000 homeless people are no joking matter. 'The world will be coming here and we do not want them to see encampments. And we need to move away from housing the homeless in hotels for a year-and-a-half,' Bass said. As for hotels, there was a discussion about implementing a $30-per-hour minimum wage for hotel and airport workers, which some have described as the 'Olympic Wage.' Bass also wants the world to know the cleanup and rebuilding after January's devastating wildfires was ahead of expectations. 'People around America thought the entire city was on fire. They did not know where the Palisades, Altadena, or Malibu were.' The fires also hampered Hollywood's film industry, as did Covid, labor strikes, and competitive tax incentives from other states such as Georgia. In response, Bass, who was once speaker of the California Assembly, is looking for government assistance from Sacramento and is creating an executive order to ease permits and hinderances to movie-shoots and television productions, which reached a low-point in 2024. 'Some people in other parts of the state ask, 'Why should we prop up Hollywood?' But these are working class jobs, not A-list actors. Tailors, caterers, construction…the industry, whether people know it or not, is in their town. Its impact is everywhere.' Buckley's successful media career, including a turn at CNN, began in 1984 when the Angelino traveled to Michigan for a summer college internship at the Detroit News. 'I did not interview Detroit's mayor then because I was a punk covering stuff, but if you look at the old archives of the Detroit News, you will see 'Frank J. Buckley – staff writer,' or something like that. I did a bunch of articles for the Detroit News,' Buckley told me stage-side. He recalled living in a University of Windsor dorm and traveling across the Ambassador Bridge each day for work. 'Detroit had its challenges at the time, but I was not scared because I had lived in Los Angeles during a very difficult, dangerous time. I was used to having my head on a swivel.' Buckley was brave to also travel to spend 10 days in Tehran, Iran on assignment for Southern California's KTLA TV. 'We have a large Persian population here and it was of interest to them. What an eye-opening trip. I remember being on the plane with women, and before landing they had to change out of their western clothing to cover up. There were people praying on the plane. But when we were on the ground, and I have found this in my reporting throughout my life, people are the same. We want our families to be safe. We want them to be prosperous,' Buckley said. 'Iranians were not supposed have satellite TV, but they all had satellite TV so they knew what was going on. I found a kid playing basketball who was an NBA fan, so I played horse with him. It was so cool!' Buckley was not the only reporter covering the mayor's speech, including me, with a Michigan connection. I met Reis Thebault, the Washington Post's west coast correspondent. He grew up in Ann Arbor, and worked in D.C, Boston, and Columbus, while his father, Reid Thebault was a civic leader in Detroit. The elder Thebault served as the innovative president and CEO of the YMCA for 20 years at a time when the Motor City was poised for transformation – a revitalization he collaborated with various Detroit mayors to be part of. Contact Michael Patrick Shiels at MShiels@ His new book: Travel Tattler – Not So Torrid Tales, may be purchased via Hear his radio talk show on WJIM AM 1240 in Lansing weekdays from 9 am – noon. This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Shiels: Frank Buckley has traveled from Detroit to Hollywood
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
L.A. hotels threaten to withdraw from Olympics deal over minimum wage hike
Los Angeles hotel operators are threatening to withdraw from agreements to provide discounted rooms for the 2028 Olympic Games over a city ordinance that will significantly boost the minimum wage for hotel and airport workers. On Friday, the L.A. City Council will vote for a second and final time to hike the minimum wage for tourism workers to reach $30 an hour by July 2028. The ordinance passed the first round of voting on May 14 but did not get unanimous support. At least eight hotels say they will back out of the room block agreement if the measure passes. That agreement includes discounted rates for officials, sponsors, and even the media at hotels across the city. The hotel operators, including Hilton, Hotel Angeleno, Hotel Per La and Hollywood Roosevelt, argue that the increased labor costs are financially unfeasible. In-N-Out raises prices in response to California's minimum wage increase 'Common sense says you cannot raise wages over 30% in less than a year when revenue is flat,' argued Mark Beccaria of Hotel Angeleno. If this increase in labor costs passes, we will be forced by the City to consider converting this hotel in the heart of residential Brentwood into a homeless shelter.' 'If the City continues down this path and only listens to one side of the equation, there will be hotel closures, lost jobs and lost opportunities for all,' said Kara Bartelt, General Manager of Hoxton Los Angeles. Under L.A.'s Olympic Wage ordinance, the minimum wage for airport and hotel workers will increase incrementally. It is set to rise to $22.50 an hour in July 2025, followed by annual increases of $2.50 each July. This phased approach will see the wage reach its peak at $30 an hour by July 2028, coinciding with the start of the Olympic Games. Supporters, including labor unions, argue the wage boost will help keep workers in the city and benefit the local economy. 'City leaders have an opportunity to ensure the Olympic and Paralympic Games benefit hard-working Angelenos, and this ordinance does just that,' Unite Here Local 11 co-president Kurt Petersen told the city council. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
