Tell Long Beach’s City Council to Enforce the Will of Voters

(The following appeal comes from the Long Beach Coalition for Good Jobs and Healthy Communities.)

On November 6, Long Beach voters overwhelmingly approved a minimum wage for hotel workers in their city. The law guarantees that these workers will be paid about $2,000 a month for full-time work and receive five paid sick days a year. (Fact sheet.)

These modest provisions would help hotel workers and their families, while boosting the economy for everyone in Long Beach. The hotels, many of which are owned by wealthy out-of-state corporations, have been thriving and could easily afford to pay the minimum wage while maintaining healthy profits. However, they are doing everything in their power to thwart the will of the voters and punish their own employees – putting a few extra dollars of profit ahead of the interests of Long Beach residents and businesses, as well as the lives of hotel workers’ families.

Now we need your help to save the Long Beach minimum wage.

For the past two months, hotels covered by the law have gone to great lengths to circumvent the minimum wage law. Some have claimed to have closed rooms, since the law applies only to hotels with 100 rooms or more. Others have reduced workers’ hours so they no longer qualify for health benefits, increased workloads to unmanageable levels, or taken away meals and parking.

Hotel workers are not the only ones being hurt by these tactics. Studies have shown that the law would bring $7 million of revenue to the city — a huge boon to local businesses and the Long Beach economy. This critical economic stimulus is now in jeopardy.

It’s up to the Long Beach City Council to pass legislation to honor the will of the voters by enforcing the minimum wage law and restoring the benefits of hotel workers.

Please sign our petition today.