A Los Angeles City Council committee on Tuesday, May 6, advanced a proposal to increase wages and expand health benefits for hotel and airport workers — a move supporters say is critical to compensate tourism industry workers ahead of the 2028 Olympics, but opponents warn could strain an already challenged tourism industry.

The proposal would raise the hourly wages for hotel workers and workers at airports operated by Los Angeles World Airports to $30 by 2028. They would also receive a new $8.35 per hour payment to cover healthcare.

The debate comes as the city faces a projected $1 billion budget shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year and increased pressure on hospitality businesses from the recent wildfires, changing federal policies, and post-pandemic recovery challenges.

The Los Angeles City Council’s Economic Development and Jobs Committee voted 3-1 to send the proposal to the full City Council with a few amendments. These include delaying the start date for health benefit requirements at hotels from July 1, 2025, to Jan. 1, 2026, and clarifying that the measure applies only to hotels with 60 or more rooms.

The committee also requested a follow-up report in six months analyzing the impact of the wage increase on the tourism industry — including data on business closures, job losses, applications for hardship exemptions, transient occupancy tax projections, and other economic indicators.

“We’ve made an attempt to balance the need for livable wages with the economic realities that we’re facing, both at the national level and certainly at the local level,” said Councilmember Curren Price, who chairs the committee and supports the proposal. “But we’re cognizant of the fact that we need to make some changes, that we need to be thoughtful of these changes.”

But not all council members are on board. Councilmember Traci Park, who opposed the measure, said she supports the rights of workers across all sectors — not just in tourism — but warned that the city must be cautious about how it implements sweeping workforce policies.

She argued that pushing forward a significant wage and healthcare increase while the tourism economy remains weak could further harm the city’s revenue and budget.

“We are moving forward a 50% increase in wages and healthcare costs while our entire tourism economy is underwater,” she said. “And that is directly impacting our sales taxes, our business taxes, our (transient occupancy tax), and everything else is impacting our city’s budget.”

Supporters, including workers who have spent nearly two years pushing for a wage increase, celebrated the committee’s decision.

“I feel happy, I’ve worked very hard, for a long time, for a win,” said Olga Tirado, a member of Unite Here! Local 11, which represents more than 32,000 workers in hotels, restaurants, airports, sports arenas, and convention centers in Southern California and Arizona.

Tirado earns $20.73 an hour working for the catering company Flying Food Group, but pays more than $2,100 a month for a one-bedroom apartment. She also sends money home to Colombia to help care for her mother.

Speaking through a translator, Tirado said she was happy to see the proposal move forward after nearly two years of organizing — including a hunger fast in late 2024. “This is something that’s gonna help so many working people like me,” she said.

But business groups and industry leaders warned the measure could have severe economic consequences.

“Today’s advancement of the Los Angeles wage ordinance will only exacerbate the city’s revenue crisis and threaten job security across the greater tourism and hospitality industry,” Rosanna Maietta, president and CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, said in a statement.

“What is unfolding in Los Angeles is not a temporary dip in travel,” she said. “The city is still struggling to reach pre-pandemic tourism levels and recent numbers are trending downwards.”

The group criticized the City Council for moving forward despite what they described as “dire warnings” from city officials and businesses on the front lines.

“They have all said that now is the worst possible moment to consider any changes to the city’s already-fragile travel, tourism, and hotel industry,” Maietta said. “This is the time to support recovery and economic stability, not jeopardize it with policies that will lead to hotel closures and thousands of layoffs.”