By Daniel Rivera, Reporter
On Aug. 13, advocates with ClueJustice, along with allied organizations Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, or LAANE, formed a rally at Los Angeles City Hall in solidarity with tourism workers who have been waiting on raises for over a year as they await the city’s impact report.
They hosted Tisha B’Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, a day to mourn the destruction of Solomon’s temple and the temple of Jerusalem. They liken the struggles of the Jewish people to the struggles that the workers of the tourism industry face.
“It’s an annual remembrance of many Jewish destruction, including the first temple of Solomon and second temples of Jerusalem, the crusades, the expulsion of jews from Spain under the Inquisition, and many things have been added on since,” Neil Comess-Daniels, a Rabbi at the Santa Monica Synagogue and Clue board member, told Random Lengths News.
“We are here in solidarity with the tourism workers rising campaign, which has for more than a year sought to pass in LA City Council a living wage for tourism workers, airport and hotel workers in the city of Los Angeles,” said Mathew Hom, a faith-based organizer with Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, or Clue. They celebrate the holiday for mourning, because the bill was introduced over a year ago. Advocates explain that the city had to make an impact report before they could vote on the new ordinance.
“Workers can’t wait,” and “today is Tisha B’Av, the saddest day of the Jewish calendar where we commemorate various tragedies that have happened to the Jewish people but for those who are committed to social justice, we connect this day to oppression that is faced by everyone, not only Jews,” Hom said, explaining the ways CLUE, the interfaith community, and labor tie faith and activism together.
“We have been waiting for the city to produce a report, when the council voted on it in May of last year, they requested a report from the chief legislative analyst office, and we are still waiting on that report,” said Jessica Durrum, the director of the Tourism Workers Rising Campaign for Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, or LAANE.
She explained that this vote will amend existing ordinances, including the 1999 ordinance for LAX workers and the 2014 ordinance for hotel workers.
The activists are looking for a new ordinance to raise the minimum wage to $25 an hour, and to raise the minimum wage to $30 by 2030 to ensure a living wage.
Hom explained that the workers have lost out on about $10,000 in wages since it was introduced, or about $200 a day. He said that they chose Tisha B’Av to mourn those lost wages and the stress it placed on the workers in the industry. It forces workers to pick which bills they can pay, and it brings up the possibility of moving further away, forcing longer commutes and impacting their quality of life.
“I either have to pay the mortgage, or the light bill has to wait a little bit to the next paycheck, which I am behind [on],” said Liceatt Varela, a cashier at LAX since 2021.
After visiting several offices with other Clue advocates, she said that there is a good chance the bill will be passed with the support of council members like Hugo Soto-Martinez and Tim McOsker, who co-sponsored the bill. She mentioned that she is worried about Councilwoman Traci Park who allegedly does not support the bill.
The Marina Del Rey Tourism Board, representing the hospitality businesses in Marina del Rey, sent a letter to the LA City Councilwoman including the Economic Impact of City Council Motion report with its key findings stating the ordinance may have a negative impact on Los Angeles’ recovering tourism industry.
According to this report and a report by the Long Beach Tourism and Convention Board, Los Angeles has made a 91% recovery since the 2020 pandemic with some aspects of the industry like tourism hotel visitations still under 2019 levels.
Councilwoman Park’s office failed to respond to RLn’s queries before publication.
“The report from the city, we have been waiting for it for almost a year … I frankly do not know when this report is getting released, or that it’s completed, ” Adam Acosta, a policy advisor for Tim Mcosker, said during a meeting with advocates.