L.A. city council raises minimum wage at large hotels to $15 an hour

[shenmue]

http://m.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29355028

It covers hotels with 150 rooms or more.

[NYC_SKP]

1. It's a start, I guess. 150 room or more are typically high end. What about the rest?

I really feel for these invisible people who work so hard and don't get paid a living wage, often working under thread of deportation.

[Travis_0004]

2. The law does exempt union hotels

[Jenoch]

3. How is this legal?

Is it legal o single out a particular industry? Why not do the same for other service jobs?

[sheshe2]

4. It's a start and a damn good one, shemue! nt

[taught_me_patience]

5. Really not sure we should go down this road

Seems like a slippery slope to be able to single out industries or companies for minimum wage.

[delete_bush]

7. Agreed.

One source I read states that only 40 hotels will be affected by this. Very arrogant/selective on the part of the council to focus on such a small group.

[Recursion]

8. Because if it's across the board farm workers will have to be paid the minimum wage

And that's unfortunately an absolute non-started politically

[ReRe]

6. One step forward...

... two steps back. Why not across the board? Raise in employee wage in hotels with 300 rooms to come into effect on July1, 2015 and to those in 150 room hotels one year later. Why not a flat $15 across the board for everyone all at one time and forget it? Don't tell me the hotels can't afford it. And if they won't do it, tell them they have to or they will loose their business license to have a hotel in L.A. How does that sound?

[delete_bush]

9. It sounds extremely authoritarian.

Don't tell me the hotels can't afford it. And if they won't do it, tell them they have to or they will loose their business license to have a hotel in L.A. How does that sound?

It concerns me that a group of 12 have such power that they can dictate wide spread economic policies specifically targeted to one industry, and even further base it on the number of employees they have. Not only that, they make the assumption that the industry is profitable, which apparently gives them the go ahead to do so.

[ReRe]

10. Wellllllllll...

... when one has had his/her neck beneath the boot for so long and the bellies are growling at home, one does get a little grumpy. Power is funny like that, when it's coming from the bottom to the top, huh? Speaking of suspicious assumptions, yours that hotels aren't profitable seems a bit, uh, suspect.

[delete_bush]

14. I made no assumption either way as to their profitability

or lack thereof.

they make the assumption that the industry is profitable, which apparently gives them the go ahead to do so.

Whether or a company is profitable should not, in my opinion, factor into a city council's decision making process to isolate one particular industry for increasing their wages to the exclusion of others.

[Starry Messenger]

11. I guess democracy isn't your strong suit.

It's called representation. People vote for the council members.

[delete_bush]

13. Your condescending attitude aside,

why not deal with what I posted, i.e. that I find it troubling that a city council can focus on the wage structure of a single industry. If they want to raise the minimum wage for everyone that's different - go for it.

And if you're of the opinion that representative democracy is always the be all end all, you'll just love the city council of Fort Wayne, Indiana...

May 28, 2014

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — The Fort Wayne City Council has voted to bring an end to collective bargaining with all city employees except police officers and firefighters.

Council members voted 6-3 along party lines Tuesday night to approve the Republican-sponsored proposal, giving them enough votes to override a promised veto from Democratic Mayor Tom Henry, The Journal Gazette and The News-Sentinel reported.

The measure approved by council members would end contract negotiations with six other unions representing workers in Indiana's second-largest city, which has nearly 260,000 residents.

https://news.vice.com/article/americas-union-busting-conservatives-are-going-local

[joeglow3]

15. Why do people complain so much about the tax code?

Because it is twisted and filled with exemptions and breaks for specific industries who spend a lot of money buying politicians. You honestly don't see where this can go terribly wrong?

[Omaha Steve]

12. K&R!