Tourism workers urge city officials to increase wages ahead of Olympics

Tourism workers across Los Angeles are asking for a pay increase as the city prepares for the 2028 Olympics.

More than 100 workers from industries including hotels and Los Angeles International Airport joined several City Council members at Los Angeles City Hall on Tuesday to urge officials to consider an immediate minimum wage increase for tourism workers to $25 per hour, rising to $30 per hour by 2028. The city’s current minimum wage is $17.28 per hour.

“The tourist workers are the front line — they are … the people that greet the world in Los Angeles,” said Estuardo Mazariegos, Los Angeles co-director of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Institute, an organization that helps underserved communities. “We need to make sure that our folks have the dignity, have the ability to live where they work.”

Los Angeles’ tourism industry generated more than $34.5 billion last year. As the city invests in infrastructure ahead of several major global sporting events to accommodate millions of tourists, workers who often live paycheck to paycheck and take on extra jobs to make ends meet said their workloads have increased amid the city’s plans.

Desmond Taylor, 64, is a skycap who has worked at LAX for 33 years. He’s often one of the first people travelers meet when they check their bags.

“I feel like I should be compensated more — one of my checks doesn’t even cover my rent,” he said.

The cost of healthcare also weighs on him. He noted that he recently paid $103 for medication.

“Rent has gone up. The cost of food has gone up. Living is a lot harder,” Taylor said.

Roughly 50,000 people work at LAX. The airport is undergoing a $30-billion overhaul to improve terminals and construct an Automated People Mover train, among other plans, ahead of the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics. Taylor and other workers believe that the airport needs upgrades to improve the travel experience, but said that the city needs to prioritize them too.

The rally was organized by the Tourism Workers Rising coalition, which is made up of several union groups and other organizations, as part of ongoing efforts to raise awareness of the workers’ calls for living wages. The group is still awaiting results of a report that was supposed to analyze the economic impact of the increase.

Councilmembers Curren Price, Katy Yaroslavsky, Hugo Soto-Martínez, Heather Hutt and Eunisses Hernandez spoke at the rally in favor of an increased wage, which was proposed last year by several L.A. City Council members.

“If this city is going to host the Olympics — a world-class event — we cannot leave our workers having poverty wages,” said Soto-Martínez, whose mother has worked at the airport for 25 years.

Jovan Houston, 42, starts her day at 3 in the morning for her 4 a.m. start time at LAX. When she’s finished shortly before noon, she often heads to her next job as a cosmetologist. Her night usually ends at 11.

Houston, who has worked at the airport for seven years, lives in a two-bedroom apartment on the border of Inglewood with six other family members. A wage increase, she said, would improve her housing situation and grant her more time to spend with her family.

“I’m not making enough money to live in Los Angeles, especially with the rising costs of rent and gas,” she said.

“Los Angeles city’s economy is growing. They’re preparing for the Olympics, but yes — they’re leaving behind the workers here.”