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LA considers new minimum wage for city’s housing construction workers
Construction laborers work on a housing project in Valley Center, CA on June 3, 2021.
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Mike Blake
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Reuters
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Topline:
Should construction workers on mid-sized Los Angeles apartment buildings earn at least $32.35 per hour? The L.A. City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to order a study of the proposed new industry-specific minimum wage.
The details: The minimum wage would apply to construction workers on any housing project with 10 or more units and a height of up to 85 feet. The $32.35 per hour would also come with an additional $7.65 per hour in healthcare credits. Any project already covered by labor agreements providing higher wages or union staffing would be exempt.
The vote: Tuesday’s vote, if passed, would instruct the city’s chief legislative analyst to carry out a study on the proposed minimum wage’s impacts. The study would include information on the wages workers currently need to afford housing and healthcare in L.A., as well as strategies the city could use to minimize any potential negative outcomes from establishing a new minimum wage for mid-sized apartment building construction.
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The context: This wouldn’t be the first time the L.A. City Council set a higher minimum wage for workers in one specific sector. Hotel and airport workers recently secured a higher minimum wage thanks to a council vote. Their pay is set to rise to $30 per hour by 2028, when the Olympics are scheduled to be held in L.A.
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Should workers building L.A. homes earn $32.35/hr?
Construction workers currently earn a median wage of $18 per hour in L.A. and frequently face wage theft, according to the council members who introduced the minimum wage proposal. Roughly half of those workers are undocumented and many lack access to healthcare, according to the motion.
L.A. is facing a state housing mandate to plan for nearly a half million new homes by 2029, a goal the city is currently unlikely to reach. Previous research has shown that labor agreements on city-funded housing projects increased construction costs and led to fewer apartments overall.
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