The Anaheim City Council has placed an initiative on the upcoming ballot to increase the minimum wage for hospitality workers that work for companies that receive economic assistance from the City of Anaheim.
The Initiative:
- Increases minimum wage to $15 per hour on January 1, 2019
- The minimum wage would increase by an additional dollar on each January 1 through 2022
- Thereafter the minimum wage would increase at the greater of 2% or the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
- This would apply to any person or an affiliate of a person that receives a city subsidy directly or is an employer which is a contractor or subcontractor, lessee or sublessee, or tenant or subtenant, of someone that receive a city subsidy
The Discussion:
- After verifying the signatures of the ballot petition, the City Council could have either adopted the initiative, place it on the ballot, or request an economic study of the initiative to be completed within 30 days
- It was a heated discussion, with several council members wanting the study before placing it on the ballot
- Everyone agreed that the measure would go to the voters
- Mayor Tait called the question on placing it to the voters which would then not allow the economic study to take place
- The motion to place it on the ballot passed
How They Voted:
- Mayor Tom Tait: Yea
- Mayor Pro Tem Moreno: Yea
- Council Member Murray: Nay
- Council Member Vanderbilt: Yea
- Council Member Barnes: Yea
- Council Member Kring: Nay
- Council Member Faessel: Nay
The Election:
- The election will be held on November 6, 2018
Disneyland Impact:
- Disneyland received a tax rebate to build the fourth Disneyland Resort hotel which is scheduled to break ground soon
- If the hotel is built and the voters approve the measure, the entire Disneyland Resort would be subjected to the new minimum wage requriements
- The Disneyland Resort recently offered their largest union group a significant wage increase, but the schedule differs from the one proposed in the measure.