Residents in Long Beach have voted in favor of issuing panic buttons to workers in medium and large city hotels.
Based on mail-in ballots, nearly 62% voted yes for the contentious measure. The vote also included work limits for hotel housekeeping employees.
It has been welcomed by unions and hospitality workers but will cost the local hospitality industry millions by mandating some of the strictest labor requirements in the country, according to Pete Hillan, spokesman for the Long Beach Hospitality Alliance.
"For us, it’s really about dignity on the job, especially the overwhelmingly majority women of color who work in the hospitality industry," said Victor Sanchez, director for the Long Beach Coalition For Good Jobs and Healthy Communities.
"It’s an economic equity issue. It’s a dignity and respect issue on the job, and that’s why it’s so important for us."
The issue split the City Council as well as obvious divisions between campaigning unions and large hospitality employers.
It may still be shelved or at least amended as a competing ordinance is set for a second reading and possible final approval next month.
That bill also calls for the installation of panic buttons in all hotels but does not cover the union-backed labor amendments.
