Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office indicated he would oppose any further effort by organized labor to win an exception to the city council’s new $15-an-hour minimum wage.
Organized labor was instrumental in creating the coalition group LA Raise the Wage, the group which got the council to approve the increase, and pushed late last month to get the exemption for unionized businesses. The mayor and the city council, however, refused. The unions intend to continue to pursue the proposal, hoping they can get the city to amend the wage ordinance later this year.
Garcetti’s office said the mayor would not go along. “He has said he doesn’t believe anybody should be paid less than the minimum wage,” spokesman Jeff Millman told the Washington Examiner. A spokesman for the Coalition of LA City Unions could not be reached for comment.
The proposed exemption would allow unionized businesses to pay as little as the $9-an-hour state minimum, provided that the workers’ union leadership signs off. Unions argue the exemption is necessary to give both sides more flexibility during collective bargaining, allowing the union to trade wages for more benefits, for example.
The mayor is set to sign the ordinance Saturday, ending any chance to change its language. At that point, any exception to the minimum wage would require a new, separate ordinance to be passed by the council, a process that would take a minimum of several months.
When asked if the LA Raise the Wage Coalition would continue to push for an exemption, spokeswoman Giovanna Vitale indicated yes, stating, “The city council has said they will study the clause.”
The unions will try, said another source inside LA Raise the Wage who requested anonymity. The vehicle will be hearings expected to be held later this year by the council to address how the implementation of the pay increase is progressing. The wage will be raised to $15 in stages spanning the next four years.
“Remaining issues (related to the increase) including the exemption are scheduled to receive further study by the city council, then they’ll determine whether they will be included in a more comprehensive take on the minimum wage in Los Angeles,” the source said. “Probably sometime this summer, the council will ask either the city attorney or an independent research group to examine the viability of those proposals.”
Once the results are in the unions will push the city to restart the ordinance process. By then, at least some local businesses that have collective bargaining with their workers likely will be lobbying the city for the exemption, while some that don’t may decide that allowing collective bargaining is preferable to having to pay the higher wage.
Los Angeles AFL-CIO President Rusty Hicks defended the exemption as “a provision … that protects workers rights” in a posting on LA Raise the Wage’s website. Elsewhere on the site, the coalition calls for “$15.25/hr for every full-time worker,” as well as “strong enforcement that holds all employers accountable to the law.”
The provision would give non-union businesses a strong incentive to strike a deal with union leaders to represent their employees so they could pay less than the new minimum. Los Angeles workers could find themselves not only not getting the $15-an-hour minimum, but owing union dues on top of that. Similar exemptions have been included in the $15 minimum wages recently passed by San Francisco and SeaTac, which were also strongly backed by unions.
The effort to get the exemption in Los Angeles drew opposition from local business groups, who denounced it as hypocrisy. Garcetti had initially expressed openness to the idea, but city council members tabled it late last month after a public backlash.
