Such proposals seem destined to spread in a time when public polling shows that the cost of living remains the top concern of Americans. The Living Wage for All Coalition said it\u2019s beginning to organize for wage increases in San Francisco and Alameda counties. And New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani plans to push a $30-an-hour wage after he takes office January 1.<\/p>\n
Who opposes to the $30-an-hour wage?<\/p>\n
Businesses opposed to the wage hikes say the increases will force employers to cut employees and to raise prices, adding to the spiral of inflation. They predict that some restaurants and other narrow-margin operators will be forced out of business.<\/p>\n
Both supporters and opponents of the higher minimum wage in Los Angeles cite the 2028 Summer Olympics as an event that should broadly benefit the community. <\/p>\n
The labor groups say they want the higher wages in place so that working-class people benefit from the influx of visitors and revenue. Opponents say the higher wages could be counterproductive. An alliance of airlines and hoteliers opposing the city\u2019s $30 wage said: \u201cIt\u2019s clear that the ordinance will jeopardize jobs, push hotels to the brink of closure, severely cut tax revenue the city desperately needs, and leave the city grossly unprepared for the 2028 Olympic Games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Organizers who gathered outside the L.A. County Hall of Administration Tuesday said that the real economic crisis in the city today is among low-wage workers who can barely pay their bills. The Living Wage for All group said that high rents have taken a particularly heavy toll. Citing U.S. Census and Zillow data, the group said that nearly 75% of restaurant workers pay more than half of their income in rent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means folks have to decide between paying the rent and buying good food or saving money for a rainy day,\u201d said Estuardo Mazariegos, co-director of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) in Los Angeles. \u201cWe want to make sure that, in the fifth largest economy in the world, folks don\u2019t have to work two or three jobs to have a good standard of living.\u201d<\/p>\n
The $30-an-hour wage would become the highest minimum wage in America. Several cities in the state of Washington, including Seattle, currently stand atop the minimum wage ranks, at more than $20 an hour. The state of California\u2019s minimum wage of $17 is more than double the national benchmark of $7.25.<\/p>\n
A pollster who works with Democrats said that 64% of L.A. voters surveyed about the issue said that the minimum wage was a \u201cmedium to high\u201d priority to them, compared to other issues. The same survey found that 58% favored a $30 wage, while 26% opposed it, with 16% not sure.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s top stories <\/p>\n
Epstein abuse survivor Haley Robson holds up a photo of her younger self during a news conference on the Epstein Files Transparency Act outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
(Heather Diehl \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Congress votes to release the Epstein filesO.J. Simpson\u2019s estate agrees to pay in wrongful death suitO.J. Simpson\u2019s estate has agreed to pay millions to Ron Goldman\u2019s family<\/a> three decades after Simpson was found not guilty in the infamous murder trial.This multimillion-dollar claim stems from a wrongful death suit the Goldman family won against Simpson in 1997.Higher education under TrumpMore L.A. rain is on the wayWhat else is going onCommentary and opinionsThis morning\u2019s must readsOther must readsFor your downtime Culver City\u2019s Fat + Flour cafe serves classic pies, cookies and biscuits from baker Nicole Rucker.<\/p>\n (Stephanie Breijo \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Going outStaying inQuestion of the day: What\u2019s one special dish your family makes for Thanksgiving?<\/p>\n Liz Freeman said, \u201cMy grandmother always made Pink Salad, an old-school congealed salad she served in the same red Pyrex bowl since the 1950s. When she passed away a few years ago, the only thing I asked for was that bowl. Now I\u2019ve taken over Pink Salad duties, and every Thanksgiving I relive those wonderful memories as I whip up the same tangy, fluffy, maraschino-cherry concoction.\u201d<\/p>\n Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.<\/p>\n And finally … your photo of the day The Saroyan Stairs, declared a historic cultural monument by the city of Los Angeles in 1991, in L.A.\u2019s Beachwood Canyon.<\/p>\n (Myung J. Chun\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Today\u2019s great photo is from Times staff photographer Myung J. Chun of The Saroyan Stairs, which are in an area where proposed \u201czone zero\u201d rules<\/a> would require all plant materials to be removed within five feet of a home or other structure in hopes of saving homes in high fire hazard severity zones.<\/p>\n Have a great day, from the Essential California team<\/p>\n Jim Rainey, staff reporter How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>. Check our top stories<\/a>, topics<\/a> and the latest articles<\/a> on latimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201c$30 by 30!\u201d isn\u2019t yet a familiar political rallying cry. But it might become one. That\u2019s because liberals,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[7,2299,1085,891,2300,2297,340,2303,48,52,51,47,50,49,63,2302,1086,1459,2301,2298,74,225,315,688],"class_list":{"0":"post-60363","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-civic-revolt","10":"tag-covid","11":"tag-covid-19","12":"tag-days","13":"tag-essential-california","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-l-a","16":"tag-la","17":"tag-la-headlines","18":"tag-la-news","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","21":"tag-los-angeles-news","22":"tag-los-angeles-times","23":"tag-may","24":"tag-pandemic","25":"tag-part","26":"tag-president-biden","27":"tag-red-county","28":"tag-san-diego","29":"tag-state","30":"tag-time","31":"tag-years"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hugo Mart\u00edn, assistant editor
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
June Hsu, editorial fellow
Andrew Campa, weekend reporter
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters<\/p>\n