The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to adopt amendments to the Los Angeles Airport Living Wage that will result in wage increases for thousands of airport workers.
The amendments were introduced in June by Council President Herb Wesson and Councilmembers Mike Bonin, Gil Cedillo, Nury Martinez, and Curren Price.
These changes closed a loophole that had kept many airline catering employees from earning the living wage. There will be phases in wage increases for all employees to keep the living wage for companies that benefit from the public airport at a higher level than the city minimum wage adopted last year.
In addition, the policy also mandates that companies allow workers time on the job to receive emergency preparedness training. Such training was mandated by federal law several years ago in the wake of high profile incidents of violence and terrorism at airports including LAX.
“My co-workers and I have been denied a living wage for far too long,” said Amparo Ramirez, an employee at Sky Chefs, a company that provides food for international and domestic flights. “Thanks to Curren Price, Herb Wesson, and all of the City Councilmembers for making sure we get paid the same as everyone else at the airport.”
“Today was an important day,” said SEIU-USWW President David Huerta. “The Los Angeles economy benefits tremendously from LAX, and everyone, including the service workers who help it run smoothly, must be part of a vision for prosperity. As Washington, D.C. considers tax giveaways to billionaires, our city government took leadership and made a step in the direction of helping real working people at the airport.”
