Better Wage Package Sought for Airport Workers

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The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday voted to move ahead with raising the living wage paid by airport employers who do not offer health benefits, a move that could eventually spread citywide.

The council vote came just hours after the release of a report from a union-allied living wage advocacy group calling for a 30 percent increase in the living wage for private sector airport workers who do not receive health benefits. The report, from the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, called on city officials to raise the wage from the current $11.25 an hour to $14.65 an hour.

Workers who receive health benefits are paid $10 an hour under the city? living wage, making for a $1.25 an hour spread between those receiving health insurance and those workers who don?. That spread has remained constant since the city first passed its living wage law in 1997; the law covers all companies that do business with the city, either through contracts or leases.

Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who has led the charge to increase the living wage, said that most employers are choosing to pay the $11.25 an hour because it? cheaper than paying $10 an hour and then paying for health insurance.

The council vote ordering city staff to craft an ordinance amendment raising the living wage for workers who don? receive health insurance did not order a specific amount to raise the wage, but gave a $2 an hour to $3 an hour range.

Some business leaders said any such increase would place an undue burden on airline companies and related businesses, particularly at a time when the tourism industry is reeling from the pullback in consumer and business spending. Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Gary Toebben said any increase in the living wage could backfire.

?hile the chamber is very concerned about rising health care costs and the effects on both employers and employees, this may actually threaten the very airport-related jobs that it seeks to protect,?Toebben said in an earlier statement on the issue.

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Howard Fine
Howard Fine is a 23-year veteran of the Los Angeles Business Journal. He covers stories pertaining to healthcare, biomedicine, energy, engineering, construction, and infrastructure. He has won several awards, including Best Body of Work for a single reporter from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers and Distinguished Journalist of the Year from the Society of Professional Journalists.

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