'Hotels could become akin to homeless shelters' if Los Angeles measure passes

Notably, hotels would not be required to hold these vacant rooms for program participants, and hotels would be unable to refuse to accept such vouchers or put in rules specifically for voucher holders.

The measure would require "Market demand for the project, and the project's impact on affordable housing, transit, social services, employees, and local businesses" to be considered in land use permits for hotel developments with 100 or more rooms, and require hotel development projects with 15 or more rooms to replace demolished or converted housing with an equivalent amount of affordable housing at or near the project site.

Bargaining group spokesperson Keith Grossman said the hotels offered an immediate $2 per hour wage increase, a total $6.25 per hour wage increase, and a $1.50 per hour healthcare benefits increase he says is "Consistent with agreements between other Unite Here locals and in several other major cities," and that the refusal "Raises legitimate concerns about why Local 11 continues to rely on disruptive tactics that harm our communities and damage the interests of union hotel employees throughout the Los Angeles region." Through its membership, the union easily gathered the 126,000 signatures required for the ballot measure.

"Hotels could become akin to homeless shelters. That's bad for paying guests, that's bad for the tourism industry in Los Angeles, and it's really, really bad for hotel employees." CUF is the primary organization opposing the ballot measure and has initiated a media blitz to counter it, launching a television and social media advertising campaign in Los Angeles and a website, HomelessHotels.com, cataloging episodes of violence and abuse against hotel workers through California's ongoing, statewide Project Roomkey program to place homeless individuals in hotels.

In their complaint, the CUF notes the union-backed minimum wage proposal includes waivers for hotels that participate in a "Bonafide collective bargaining agreement," a tool former Unite Here Local 11 President Tom Walsh told the Los Angeles Times would cause non-union hotels to be less resistant to unionization.

"That's going to add a lot of dues-paying members for them." Polling from the American Hotel and Lodging Association, which represents all of the hotels in the United States, conducted by Public Opinion strategies with a sample size of 500 Los Angeles voters found that while 98% of voters say homelessness is a crisis in the city, 86% say the city should not prioritize housing people experiencing homelessness in hotels, 81% say such a policy would unfairly burden hotel staff, and 59% say they would be less likely to visit a city and stay in a hotel there if they knew the city would require all hotels to lodge homeless individuals next to regular guests.

"Who's going to book a room in the city of Los Angeles? People have choices. No one is going to choose to stay in a hotel under those circumstances," said Chip Rogers, President and CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, in an interview with The Center Square. 

https://www.thecentersquare.com/california/article_b829e382-4c94-11ee-ae4f-e389e441761e.html