Setting the stage for a potentially costly election battle, Los Angeles business leaders filed petitions Friday seeking a citywide referendum on whether a “living wage” must be paid to hotel workers along the Century Boulevard corridor.

Joined by City Councilmen Greig Smith and Dennis Zine, leaders of the business community said they believe voters will join in opposing what they described as an anti-business measure.

“The concern is that the city will not stop here,” said Gary Toebben, chief executive of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. “We don't think the city has thought out all the economic implications of this.

“Los Angeles already has a reputation as a city that is difficult to do business in. Laws like this make it harder for us to attract new businesses. What we should be talking about is creating the $20-an-hour job rather than an issue like this.”

The chamber and several other business groups -- including the Hotel Association of Los Angeles, the Valley Industry and Commerce Association and the United Chambers of Commerce -- are part of the Save Los Angeles Jobs Coalition, which sponsored the petitions.

Toebben estimated it cost $800,000 to collect roughly 110,000 signatures, and said he expects to spend more than $5 million in any subsequent campaign.

Smith and Zine said they plan to ask the City Council to rescind its decision imposing the living wage on the 12 hotels.

“I'm a labor guy,” said Zine, a retired LAPD sergeant who spent eight years as a director of the Los Angeles Police Protective League. “But this law makes no sense. It has government doing what the unions should be doing.”

Under the proposal, the hotels near Los Angeles International Airport would be required to pay workers $9.39 an hour with health benefits, or $10.64 an hour without benefits.

The living-wage ordinance previously had been applied only to firms doing business directly with the city. But in extending it to the Century Boulevard hotels, the City Council argued that the hotels benefit by the city's investment at LAX.

The City Council also adopted requirements that the hotels pay workers' service charges and that no employees be fired if a hotel changes ownership. Those issues are not being contested.
If the City Council does not rescind its decision within 30 days and the petitions are certified, the issue will be placed on the city's May 15 ballot. City officials have estimated the referendum could add $3 million to the cost of staging the election.

Danny Feingold of the Living Wage Coalition said he believes there is no room for compromise. “It's disappointing that the hotels and the chamber are willing to spend millions of dollars to deny hard-working people a living wage and lift their workers out of poverty,” Feingold said.

“We believe the public will support the workers in this. We won't be able to raise anywhere near the same amount of money, but we think we can put together a coalition of support across the city to send a message."