Long Beach Moves to Raise the Wages of Airport and Convention Center Workers

By Daniel Rivera, Reporter 

On July 16, Long Beach City Council voted to recommend the city manager raise the wages of its airport and convention center workers. This was after community members from several unions and organizations gathered at City Hall to give public comment and advocate for their inclusion under Measure RW, which raised the wages of hospitality workers at large hotels. 

“Our raises must be included in the preparation for the Olympics, because workers cannot prioritize the success of such an event when their basic needs aren’t met,” Lupe Ferrero, an airport cook, said during public comment. 

The union said workers are being overworked, noting that some are working in multiple kitchens while barely being able to make ends meet. Several speakers referred to hour-long commutes from Los Angeles spreading them increasingly thin. 

“The cost of housing can take up about 80% of our income, leaving little for our basic needs,” Diamond Bar, a prep cook, said during the public comment. 

During the meeting, Mayor Rex Richardson said that Measure RW provides “Olympic wages,” about it being one of the highest in the state for hotel workers, and in preparation for the Summer Olympics.

“Previously, there was a discussion when this wage was set with Measure N about the status of the airport and convention center, those questions are still not resolved here,” Rex Richardson said during the meeting. 

Measure N, like Measure RW, was a wage increase for hospitality workers back in 2013, setting their wages at about $13 an hour. 

Originally, the workers at the airport would be included under the new measure. They were left out due to alleged last-minute changes by the city attorney, who did not feel comfortable including them based on the language of the measure. 

“They weren’t included originally because they didn’t need to be, it was done originally for hotel workers,” City Attorney Dawn McIntosh said in a phone call. She went on to explain that when the union requested the inclusion of Airport and Convention Center workers, the measure was already too far along and those changes couldn’t be properly assessed. 

When Measure N was passed, any future changes would need to be done through a vote which led to Measure RW. RW changed the process so that the city can now change the salaries based on recommendations from the City Council. And barring any legal challenges like existing contracts, the wage raise is likely to proceed. 

The recommendation to raise the wages of airport and convention center workers was sponsored by Councilwoman Suely Saro, and co-sponsored by Mary Zendajas and Joni Ricks-Oddie. 

“Request the city attorney to prepare an ordinance to amend the Long Beach airport and convention ordinance, to authorize a market wage adjustment,” Saro said during the meeting. She went on to emphasize her constituents’ commitment to labor with the passing of Measure RW and other similar legislation. 

While the city council endorsed the move, Councilwoman Kristina Duggan pushed for a more measured approach and stated that they should let it be negotiated between the union and the workplaces. 

“I think the parties can negotiate at a much closer level, I don’t want to make staff the mediators of the parties that this proposal will impact,” Duggan said. She brought up that this approach may not work for all businesses in the airport due to the various business models that all extract different levels of revenue and the price limits imposed on them by the city, which limit flexibility. 

Earlier in the year they had already secured a contract with their workplace, but they want to be included in the existing measure because they believe that’s the standard and would result in a faster and higher wage increase. 

The original wage increase would put them at a little over $21 an hour but with their inclusion into Measure RW, it would put them at around $23 an hour. 

Measure RW would also put the wages of hospitality workers to around $28 by the end of the decade, it would help them keep up with the rising cost of living. This development comes on the back of several contracts obtained by the Unite Here Local 11.