Latest news with #SaruJayaraman
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Labor groups, officials push for a minimum wage of at least $25 an hour in L.A. County
Labor advocates and some elected officials are calling on Los Angeles County to adopt a minimum wage of at least $25 an hour. On Monday, about 150 workers, labor leaders, Democratic party officials and loyal donors gathered at private tables reserved in the back of Wally's Wine & Spirits in Santa Monica to launch a new effort to raise the minimum hourly wage in L.A. County to $25 — or higher. Amid the tinkle of glassware and clang of cutlery, Saru Jayaraman, an L.A. attorney and president of One Fair Wage, a national coalition pushing to raise wages in the service sector, emphasized the urgency of addressing a steep increase in the cost of living. Read more: L.A. council backs $30 minimum wage for hotels, despite warnings from tourism industry "We need bold, proactive action," Jayaraman said. "That's the only way people will be able to afford to stay in L.A. County." A person living in L.A. County and working full-time in a household without children must earn about $28 an hour in order to cover basics of rent, transportation and food, Jayaraman said, citing MIT's living wage calculator. The hourly minimum wage in Los Angeles is $17.28, 78 cents higher than the state's. No wage proposal has yet been submitted to the county, Jayaraman said, but labor groups plan to work with the L.A. County Board of Supervisors to hash out the specifics. The campaign is sure to face staunch resistance from business groups. It follows L.A. City Council's approval of wage boosts for airport and hotel workers to $30 an hour by 2028. Hotels and tourism industry groups have continued to fight the new ordinance, filing paperwork last week to force a citywide vote to overturn it. Business leaders who opposed the tourism wage hike had warned that Southern California — like other tourism hotspots across the U.S. — is already facing a slowdown in international travel due to trade war hostilities and deportation threats. To manage the mounting cost of labor, hotels will be forced close restaurants or other small businesses on their premises — and in some cases, shut down entirely, they said. The coalition of businesses that is seeking to overturn the wage — the L.A. Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress — will need to gather about 93,000 signatures within the next few weeks in order to qualify the measure for the ballot in an upcoming election. L.A. City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who backed the tourism wage boost, said unions were bracing for a fight in the coming weeks and months. "Corporations and businesses are only going to go more on the attack and do everything in their power to reverse these policies," she said. "We are talking about workers being able to buy food, and live in the city they work in." The campaign to boost the minimum wage has the backing of L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who said at the event that she often hears from her constituents that they are being priced out. "What it costs to just survive in Los Angeles County — it takes away my breath every day," Mitchell said. Mitchell supports an across-the-board minimum wage increase, rather than efforts to raise industry-specific wages. "This might not be a popular thing to say, but we don't help ourselves when we have a piecemeal, sector-by-sector approach," Mitchell said. Besides tourism workers, healthcare and fast-food workers have also lobbied for improved pay at the state or local level. In unincorporated areas of L.A. County, the minimum wage is $17.81. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Axios
27-02-2025
- Business
- Axios
Trolling, attacks and name-calling: Inside the restaurant wage fight
One-star Google reviews, boycotts and harassing phone calls: This is what Denver restaurants are experiencing as a result of their support for legislation that allows reduced wages for tipped workers in certain localities. Why it matters: The vitriolic atmosphere surrounding House Bill 1208 is unlike any political battle at the state Capitol in recent years and is poised to leave an embattled restaurant industry even more bruised. State of play: The aggressive opposition is led by the local chapter of the far-left Working Families Party, labor unions and the national advocacy group One Fair Wage. Through online campaigning, the organizations are focusing the debate on cutting wages of tipped workers, which is a possibility under the legislation. Opponents are targeting restaurants and breweries that testified or spoke in favor of the bill with bad reviews online that tell others to not visit. What they're saying: The effort is being compared to a "jihad" by one supporter, and the Colorado Restaurant Association called the trolling tactics "disgusting." "I've not seen it this bad, ever," the association's CEO, Sonia Riggs, tells Axios. The other side: Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage, tells us that she can't believe lawmakers are "cruel enough or stupid enough" to reduce worker pay at a time when Denver is becoming less affordable. "Most tipped workers in Denver and Colorado are struggling to make ends meet," she said, noting that many of these workers are women and lower-income earners. How it works: In Colorado, employers can pay tipped employees a wage of $3.02 an hour less than the minimum in law only if tips get them to the minimum wage. All employees must make at least the state minimum wage of $14.81 per hour. The legislation — which would only apply to the handful of counties and municipalities with minimum wage rates greater than the state level — would allow restaurant owners to lower the base minimum wage for tipped workers. Supporters say this is necessary to help struggling restaurants stay afloat amid a wave of closures. The other localities affected are the city and county of Boulder and Edgewater. By the numbers: The minimum wage for tipped workers in Denver would drop $4 from $15.79 to $11.79. But all employees must still make at least the $18.81 minimum wage if tips aren't sufficient. A full-time employee could make $640 less a month, according to critics. But the reduction could also save the city's restaurant owners more than $50,000 a year, supporters say. The big picture: The legislation is driving a deep wedge between the Democratic Party and the restaurant industry with supporters and opponents on both sides. In Denver, where the minimum wage is the eighth-highest among states and localities in the nation, Mayor Mike Johnston supports the measure while city council members and the auditor are opposed. Johnston recently floated the idea of a 20% surcharge to help restaurant employees. The bottom line: The legislation recently survived its first test — an 11-2 committee vote with two Democrats in opposition. But its future is murky as the opposition accelerates and lawmakers look for a compromise deal.
