Proposed Glendale voter initiative asks to raise hotel, event center workers' minimum wage

Hotel and event center workers in Glendale’s growing hospitality industry could see their wages rise to at least $20 an hour if voters approve a proposed measure this fall.

Worker Power, a political action committee, submitted a petition to the city this month with nearly 9,000 voter signatures supporting the initiative’s placement on the November ballot.

The measure’s backers said current wages are so low that workers take on multiple jobs to pay their bills. Compensating the workers fairly is in the best interest of the hotels and the city, they added, because it will benefit the local economy, visitors, residents and businesses.

Opponents of the measure contend that it will force hotels to drive up room prices and cut staff. That’ll effectively harm Glendale’s economy, which has seen major gains in recent years thanks, in part, to an influx of hotels within the city’s Sports and Entertainment District.

According to the Glendale City Clerk’s Office on Thursday, it’s processing the petition and has 20 business days from the July 3 filing to finish — or roughly until the end of the month.

The group needed to collect 5,905 valid signatures from eligible Glendale voters for the initiative to qualify for the Nov. 5 elections.

State law requires proponents of a measure to acquire signatures from 15% of a city's qualified electorate. That number is based on voter turnout in a city's last mayoral election. Glendale's 2020 mayor's race saw 39,369 voters participate.

If the measure gets on the ballot and passes, the minimum hourly wage for hotel and event center employees would rise to $20 and climb annually to reflect cost of living increases.

Additionally, the measure looks to impose limits on how many rooms attendants can clean in a day before doubling their pay. It will also establish a local labor standards agency and give workers all the service charges hotels collect from guests.

“By requiring a higher minimum wage and benefits, (Glendale) seeks to promote the health, safety and welfare of thousands of hotel and event center workers by ensuring they receive fair compensation for the work they perform,” Worker Power stated in the measure.

It cites income inequality within Glendale’s hospitality industry as the driving force behind the measure. The group called it the “most pressing economic, social and civil rights issue” in the city.

The Arizona Lodging and Tourism Association, along with a chorus of Glendale hotels, are strongly opposed to the measure.

“A new wage mandate on the tourism sector will cause prices to spike and cost jobs, hurting the very people the union-backed proponents claim they represent,” Tourism Association President and CEO Kim Grace Sabow stated in an email.

She pointed to recent mandatory wage increases for service workers in California, where, she said, restaurant prices have skyrocketed and jobs have been lost.

A representative from Worker Power did not return calls and an email to speak on the initiative. City officials were not available Friday to comment.

How much do hotel workers make now?

Arizona’s minimum wage for 2024 is $14.35 an hour.

A separate ballot measure that political action committee Raise the Wage AZ submitted this month will similarly ask voters to hike the statewide minimum wage to $18 an hour by 2027.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average wage for a hotel, motel and resort desk clerk working in Arizona in 2023 — the most recent available data — was $15.66 an hour, or $32,570 annually.

For a general hotel worker in the state, the hourly wage was roughly $13 as of late June, according to salary.com.

Wages that Glendale’s hotel workers earn are “often economically restrictive,” according to Worker Power. That means employees lack buying power at local stores, are living paycheck to paycheck and moonlighting to provide for their families.

The group also stated that workers rely on government services for support.

“The city has an interest in promoting an employment environment that protects government resources in requiring the payment of a higher minimum wage,” Worker Power stated in the initiative.

How will the employees benefit from the measure?

Under the proposal, Glendale hotels and event centers must pay employees at least $20 an hour, not including bonuses, gratuities and service charge disbursements. And starting Jan. 1, and every year afterward, they’ll have to hike wages to reflect cost of living increases.

Hotels with fewer than 60 rooms must also double the hourly pay for a room attendant who cleans more than 4,000 square feet of floor space in an 8-hour workday. Hotels with more than 60 rooms must do the same if the employee cleans more than 3,500 square feet of floor space.

The average size of a hotel room in the U.S. is 325 square feet. For luxury hotels, the average is 400 square feet.

Depending on the hotel, attendants can't be asked to clean more than nine to 12 rooms daily without getting paid the premium rate for their shift.

All the hotels in the Sports and Entertainment District have more than 60 rooms, with the largest being the Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel & Spa. The hotel offers 320 rooms, according to the city of Glendale.

VAI Resort, the 60-acre hotel and entertainment complex under construction and set to become the largest of its kind in Arizona, will offer 1,100 rooms when it opens next year.

Another condition the measure looks to place on hotels is the requirement that workers receive all the service fees customers are charged.

In the hospitality and restaurant industry, some hotels and eateries will tack on a service charge to the bill, typically a percentage of the total cost. The fee is often used instead of having the customer tip the server or room attendant.

Seeing the charge, diners and hotel guests will typically give a smaller gratuity, according to Worker Power.

The requirement, the group stated, guarantees “that a hotel or event center worker gets paid for any service charge a customer reasonably would believe is intended for the worker who actually performed the service.”

What oversight will the initiative provide?

With the measure, Worker Power is also looking to establish a Department of Labor Standards in Glendale. It's unclear from the initiative how the department will created and with what funds.

The department will, among other things, receive complaints and investigate claims against employers, periodically produce studies on Glendale’s low-wage workers, and educate employers on their obligations and employees of their rights mandated in the measure.

By the new year, the department must also establish a digital and physical method for employees to file complaints.

Furthermore, the hotels must open their personnel and wage records to the city when department officials investigate claims.

If the agency determines that a violation has occurred, the hotel or event center could be fined $100 for each infraction against an employee.

What do the hotels and tourism industry say?

A loose coalition of Glendale’s hotels is considering ways to oppose the measure should it qualify for the ballot.

In a prepared statement, the group argued that the measure “singles out the City of Glendale's hotels and event spaces in a way that's virtually guaranteed to hurt the city's economy and move businesses out of town.”

Like Sabow over at the Tourism Association, the group cited the new California law that raised the wage for fast-food workers in April from $16 to $20 an hour. News outlets reporting on the law’s effects found that some franchise owners have had to cut shifts to adapt to the labor costs.

“If you want proof of how bad this measure will be, look west to California,” the group stated. “There, the new mandatory $20 minimum wage for certain fast-food workers has been a restaurant traffic killer.”

A similar measure to Worker Power’s was put to a special election in Anaheim, California last fall, Sabow noted.

City leaders there asked voters whether to give hotel and event workers a $25 minimum wage. About 66% of the city’s participating voters rejected the measure.

“We anticipate Glendale voters will do the same when they learn how much damage it will inflict,” she stated.

What's next?

The city clerk's office said it doesn't anticipate the city taking the full 20 days to finish processing the petition.

While the initiative has not yet qualified for the ballot, the city is inviting residents to file arguments for and against the proposed measure.

Information on how and when to file can be found on the city's elections webpage.

Shawn Raymundo covers the West Valley cities of Glendale, Peoria and Surprise. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him on X @ShawnzyTsunami.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Labor union calls on Glendale voters to raise hotel worker wages