A signature-gathering drive was under way Saturday in an effort to overturn the city of Los Angeles’ recently approved ordinance raising the minimum wage for hotel and airport workers.
The Los Angeles City Clerk’s office on Friday announced it had certified the referendum effort launched by a coalition of airlines, hotels and concession companies at Los Angeles International Airport known as the Los Angeles Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress.
The group has until June 30 to gather about 93,000 signatures from Los Angeles registered voters to qualify the measure for the June 2026 ballot.
Jason Riederer, a spokesman for the American Hotel & Lodging Association, which has partially financed the signature-gathering drive, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Phil Singer, a spokesman for the coalition, told the Los Angeles Times the wage increase “threatens revenue Los Angeles urgently needs.”
“Small businesses will be forced to shut down, workers will lose their jobs, and the economic fallout will stretch across the city,” Singer told The Times. “We’re fighting for all of it: the city’s future, the jobs that sustain our communities, and the millions of guests the tourism industry proudly serves year after year.”
Mayor Karen Bass signed the ordinance into law Tuesday, four days after the City Council gave its final approval.
The ordinance will raise the minimum wage for airport hotel workers to $22.50 an hour starting in July, followed by an annual $2.50 increase over three years. Workers would receive $25 an hour beginning July 2026, $27.50 an hour in July 2027 and $30 an hour in July 2028, as well as receive a new $8.35 per hour healthcare payment, which will begin July 2026.
Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez, a co-author of the ordinance, criticized the effort to overturn it.
“Corporations are spending millions to push this deceptive petition instead of paying their workers a living wage. To every resident of the city of Los Angeles: DO NOT SIGN THIS MISLEADING PETITION,” the councilman said in a statement released Friday afternoon.
Unite Here Local 11 Co-President Kurt Peterson also criticized the coalition’s efforts. The union advocated for the wage increase alongside Services Employees International Union United Service Workers West, which represents some airport workers.
Peterson told City News Service that rather than spending millions of dollars to upend the minimum wage increase, the coalition should be paying its workers enough so they can live in Los Angeles.
“We’re confident Angelenos will see through this deceitful attempt to steal money from workers and they won’t get enough signatures,” Peterson added.
Peterson reiterated that the minimum wage increase would make a world of a difference for workers who wouldn’t have to decide between living in Lancaster or Los Angeles and give them enough money to pay for rent and medicine and not have to choose between the two.
Hoteliers and airport concessionaires criticized the wage increase, saying it will raise labor costs and could force some businesses lay off employees or shut down as the tourism industry faces challenges.
Mark Davis, the president and chief executive of Sun Hill Properties Inc., which manages the Hilton Los Angeles Universal City Hotel, has previously warned of investors choosing to do businesses elsewhere because of the wage increase.
Davis had reported that the future $250 million expansion of the hotel site, which would add a second 18-story tower, could be lost unless the proposal is reworked. The tower would open in time for the Olympics, adding more than 300 hotel rooms that would be available as part of a room block agreement with LA28, the organizing committee for the 2028 Olympics.
The LAX Marriott, LAX Renaissance and AC Hotel were among the hotels that sent letters to LA28 threatening to terminate the room block agreement, citing concerns with the city’s minimum wage ordinance.
The room block program was created to guarantee affordable lodging for visitors, officials, sponsors and media during the 2028 Olympic Games.
“LA28 is in the process of reviewing communication received by hotels regarding the Hotel Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance,” LA28 said in a statement last week on the issue.
“We respect the key stakeholders and decision makers in the process of workers and businesses advocating for themselves and their futures. In collaboration with the city of Los Angeles, we look forward to our partnerships with local hotels and unions, and remain confident the Games will bring positive economic impact to the region.”