LA Times: Wage suit cost LAX hotel workers millions, group says

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-hotel18mar18,1,123367.story

By David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 18, 2008

A lawsuit filed by seven hotels seeking to avoid paying a higher minimum wage has cost roughly 2,000 workers a combined $4.7 million in lost income, according to a report to be released today by a pro-union nonprofit group.

The Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, which last year persuaded the City Council to pass a $10.64-per-hour minimum wage at hotels near Los Angeles International Airport, said the ongoing legal fight has delayed implementation of the law -- denying each hotel employee anywhere from $350 to $4,400 since the measure was approved in January 2007.

The report comes roughly a month before the state Supreme Court is scheduled to decide whether it will review the wage law. If the court refuses to take it up, the hotels may draft a ballot measure seeking to repeal the law.

"If they decide to start collecting signatures, we want this information out there as part of the debate," said alliance spokesman Danny Feingold.

The law, which was signed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, requires 13 hotels on Century Boulevard to pay their workers a higher hourly rate than hotels in other parts of the city.

Harvey Englander, a lobbyist for most of those hotels, called the report a "one-sided, absolutely ridiculous document of no substance."

FULL story at link.

[zanne]

1. This is a tried and true tactic to discourage lawsuits and strikes. nt