COUNCIL OKS HOTEL HIKE IN LIVING WAGE RULES APPLY ONLYTO THOSE NEAR LAX.

Byline: RICK ORLOV Staff Writer

Over objections from the city's business community, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved extending the city's ``living wage'' ordinance to hotels near Los Angeles International Airport.

In a 10-3 vote, the council approved the measure and two others designed to improve working conditions for an estimated 2,500 workers at 12 hotels that the council argues are beneficiaries of a city-owned asset: the airport.

The city's original living-wage rule applied only to firms doing business under contracts with city government, but the new plan marks one of the broadest applications of a living wage ordinance in the nation.

``This is why we're in public service,'' Councilwoman Janice Hahn exulted after the council vote during an impromptu rally in the City Hall rotunda with about 100 workers from the Century Boulevard hotels.

``We got in this job to help improve the quality of life of the people who live in this city.''

Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who joined Hahn in championing the proposal, said he was proud of the council's decision.

``This is a great day for all Americans,'' Rosendahl said. ``This is good for the workers. It is good for business. It will be good for the hotels. I tell the hotel owners that they should look at this as being to their advantage because it will result in a happy work force that will bring business back to your hotels.''

Hoteliers, however, said they planned to seek a voter referendum on the issue as soon as the measures are signed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

``We only have a short time frame, but we feel it's the only step we have to try to stop this,'' said Mike Pfiefer of the Hotel Association of Southern California.

To qualify an initiative for the March city ballot would require supporters to gather the signatures of more than 49,000 registered voters.

Hoteliers and other business leaders have united to fight the expansion of the living wage, saying it will put them at a competitive disadvantage and could threaten their ability to stay open.

Although the measure is limited to the Century Boulevard corridor, businesses fear it could be broadened even further to apply to other parts of the city as well.

Councilman Dennis Zine, who opposed the measure along with Councilmen Bernard Parks and Greig Smith, questioned the city's action.

``We keep saying we want to be a business-friendly city and then we adopt something like this that adds to the cost of business,'' Zine said. ``It is unprecedented for the city to take an action like this on private industry that has no direct contract with the city.''

The Century Boulevard hotels were targeted because of ongoing disputes with unions over efforts to organize workers. Under the plan approved by the council, the living wage ordinance would not apply to hotels that have union contracts.

The hotels are among the busiest in the city, but also have a pay scale that is 20 percent lower than that of other major hotels in the city, according to city studies.

The city's living wage ordinance, which requires hourly pay of $9.08 an hour with health benefits or $10.33 an hour without health benefits, was first adopted a decade ago to apply to concessionaires at LAX.

Other cities have tried to expand the living wage concept beyond contractors, but those efforts have been tied up in legal challenges.

Vivian Rothstein of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, which has pushed for the proposal, said the council's approval is the first step in seeking more benefits -- particularly health care -- for hotel workers.

Hahn said she hopes hoteliers will not challenge the measure in a referendum, but said she is not afraid if voters are asked to decide.

``I think if we get a chance to make our case, they will support us,'' Hahn said. ``Los Angeles is a city that supports workers.''

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com

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