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≡ LOS ANGELES DIVIDED ≡
The fractious, angry battle between the activist hotel workers union in Los Angeles and area businesses continues to escalate, with the union trying to launch a petition to place an initiative measure on a 2026 City ballot to require public votes on hotel development and public events.
There could be an impact on the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic organizing effort.
The background in brief:
● Unite Here Local 11, which represents airport, hotel, sports and convention center employees in Southern California and Arizona, pushed through what it calls its “Olympic Wage” ordinance at the Los Angeles City Council, finally approved on 27 May 2025.
● The measure increases minimum hourly wages at hotels or more than 60 rooms, and at airport concessionaires in the City of Los Angeles to $22.50 as of 1 July 2025, $25.00 on 1 July 2026, $27.50 on 1 July 2027 and $30.00 on 1 July 2028.
● In response, the LA Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress, a coalition of hospitality-related business, including airlines and hotels, filed for a referendum to cancel the ordinance. Signatures were gathered, with Local 11 protesting loudly, and on 27 June 2025, the Los Angeles City Clerk announced that the implementation of the ordinance was suspended after delivery of more than 140,000 signatures in favor of listing “Referendum Petition Against Ordinance No. 188610” on the ballot.
More than 92,998 valid signatures are required and the City Clerk has turned the signature list over to the Los Angeles County Clerk for verification. Lawsuits against the signature-gathering effort have been filed, but with no resolution yet.
At the same time as the LA Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress referendum signatures were delivered, Local 11 filed two initiative petitions, trying to be placed on the June 2026 City ballot. One was for an “Increase Minimum Wage for Workers” ordinance, to have a vote on the ordinance passed by the L.A. City Council and now suspended; this would be a direct counter to the Alliance referendum against the “Olympic wage.”
The second was an initiative to “Require Voter Approval of Major Development Projects,” which would require a public vote on any new hotel, sports or convention center projects for which the City provides subsidies, or for the construction, addition or alteration of event facilities, “which cumulatively create or add facilities of more than 50,000 square feet or with a seating capacity of 1,000 seats.”
Different from a referendum – like the Alliance petition – an initiative petition requires more signatures: 139,497 from City of Los Angeles residents to be placed on the ballot.
Both of the Local 11 measures were submitted on 16 June 2025 and had the measure title and summary completed on 27 June. The next step will be for a petition for each to be approved for posting and circulation, with signatures due within 120 days of the filing date (ostensibly 14 October 2025).
What does this mean for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games?
● The LA28 organizers already have agreements with dozens of hotels for accommodations during the Games period in 2028. Those agreements are likely to continue, although there may be some changes to the guaranteed pricing if the “Olympic wage” ordinance stands after the June 2026 municipal ballot.
● The voter-approval initiative for new hotels, sports or convention facilities includes “alterations” which can be interpreted to mean temporary additions, as will be widely used for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
That could cause issued for the LA28 organizers, for those sites for which temporary works are needed. The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that in a statement, L.A. Office of Major Events Executive Director Paul Krekorian said of the measure:
“The proposed measure would make vital projects essential for our city and these Games potentially impossible to complete. It would also require costly special elections before even relatively small projects could begin.”
The potential impacts on the Games from the proposal could include:
● Additional seating to the LA84 Foundation/John C. Argue Swim Stadium in Exposition Park, slated to host diving.
● Additional seating – above 1,000 – for viewing of sailing events at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro.
● Facilities and possible seating at Venice Beach for the cycling road races marathons starts and triathlon.
● Seating for events at the Los Angeles Convention Center, for boxing, table tennis, taekwondo and wrestling.
● Use of the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area for temporary sites for 3×3 basketball, BMX cycling, modern pentathlon and skateboarding.
● If interpreted quite liberally, the measure as written could include changes to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, such as for the 2022-23-24 NASCAR Clash at the Coliseum, or the installation of the track and field surface for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The measure’s requirement of a vote on facilities of more than 50,000 sq. ft. would also essentially torpedo all “fan festival” activities within the City of Los Angeles, a major focus of City Council members.
Observed: So, is the measure a threat to the Games?
In a word, no. The Games – Olympic and Paralympic – will go on.
But if the proposed initiative gets onto the June 2026 ballot, it will cause the LA28 folks to create or implement alternate plans that simply move the impacted sports to sites outside of the City of Los Angeles. And there are so many facilities in Southern California, this will not be that difficult (but will be highly inconvenient).
Even an alternative to the Coliseum for track and field is possible: the Rose Bowl, which was briefly considered to hold track at the 1984 Olympic Games. Either facility would require the installation of a temporary track on top of the existing field, although the engineering requirements will be different (and difficult). The football matches scheduled for the Rose Bowl would then be moved to the Coliseum, as a normal, existing use.
The immediate winners of such a scenario would likely be the convention centers in Long Beach and possibly Anaheim, both used for the 1984 Games.
If the voter-approval proposal for development passes, development within the City can be expected to diminish significantly, including the much-desired post-2028 expansion program for the L.A. Convention Center.
But at present, Local 11 is trying to get its petitions approved and start asking for signatures on L.A. street corners and shopping centers soon.
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