Wages
Long Beach, CA – The city council voted to increase the minimum wage for concession workers at the city’s airport and convention center to $29.50/hr before the Olympics and Paralympic Games come to the city in 2028. The mandate applies to private employers with whom the city contracts to operate the convention center and airport concessions. In May, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed a similar “Olympic wage” law that raises the wage for Los Angeles tourism workers to $30/hr by 2028. More details.
Los Angeles, CA – The city announced that a referendum aimed at overturning the so-called Olympic Wage Ordinance in the city has enough signatures to move forward. The ordinance, passed in May, would raise the minimum wage for hotel and airport workers to $30/hr by 2028, as the city prepares for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The measure also includes an $8.35/hr health care payment starting in July 2026. A total of 140,774 unverified signatures will now be reviewed by the county clerk for validity. County staff will compare the signatures with registered voter records. The ordinance will remain suspended and will not take effect during the verification process. According to the city clerk office, if the petition is certified, it will be presented to the city council, which will have three options under the city charter: repeal the ordinance, place it on a future ballot for voters, or refer it to a department for further analysis. The American Hotel & Lodging Association, the Central City Association, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, and the Valley Industry & Commerce Association, are backing the referendum effort. More details.
Olympia, WA – The Olympia City Council voted 4-3 against an initiative to adopt a Workers’ Bill of Rights and raise the minimum wage across the city to $20/hr. It did, however, unanimously vote to forward the initiative to the Nov. ballot. Mayor Dontae Payne was the deciding vote. More details.
Labor Policy
Labor Department – The agency unveiled a sweeping plan to eliminate or revise more than 60 workplace safety and wage regulations, part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to scale back federal oversight in the name of economic growth. Proposed rollbacks include wage protections, safety rules in mines, construction lighting, and farmworker retaliation safeguards. The proposal would also restrict the Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA) general duty clause from applying to a number of entertainment-related industries. Of particular note is the proposed elimination of minimum wage and overtime requirements for home health care workers. More details.
U.S. Senate – The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) advanced the nomination of Brittany Panuccio to be a Member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Panuccio is an attorney in the Department of Justice in Florida and if confirmed by the full senate, the EEOC would regain a quorum with a 2-1 Republican majority and enable the agency to fully embark on its agenda, including the Trump administration’s anti-DEI efforts. More details.
U.S. House – A house committee advanced two bills expanding the rights of independent contractors. The Modern Worker Empowerment Act proposes updates to the Fair Labor Standards Act and the National Labor Relations Act seeking a consistent definition of “employee” across federal law. The goal is to preserve the independent status of contractors while providing them with legal protections. The other bill, the Modern Worker Security Act, ensures that providing portable benefits to independent contractors won’t result in their reclassification as employees giving freelancers and gig workers access to additional protections without threatening their flexibility. There are companion bills to both pending in the senate. More details.
Rhode Island – The governor signed legislation prohibiting employers from discharging, disciplining, penalizing (or threatening to discharge, discipline, or penalize), or otherwise taking any adverse employment action against an employee because they refused to attend a mandatory employer-sponsored meeting to learn about the employer’s views and opinions concerning whether employees should join or support a labor union. In addition, the law goes beyond a mere prohibition on “captive audience” meetings to prohibit employers from taking adverse action against an employee for refusing to listen to a speech or view a communication, including an electronic communication, from the employer regarding the employer’s opinions on unionization. Many observers of the NLRB expect the Board, once it regains the quorum of three members required to conduct business, to revisit this decision in an appropriate case and overrule it. More details.
Minneapolis, MN – Draft language of a proposed revision to the paid sick time law was released in the city council that parrots the recommendation of the Workplace Advisory Committee (a panel mostly made up of labor community representatives and their allies) that has been advocating for mandatory “know your rights” training for all workers covered under the city’s paid sick leave law. The new proposed language states: “For each employee covered by an employer’s official or unofficial policy or practice of not providing or refusing to allow the use of sick and safe time in violation of section 40.240(a), two hundred fifty ($250.00) dollars payable to the employee. In the event an employer is found to have engaged in an official or unofficial policy or practice of not providing or refusing to allow the accrual or use of sick and safe time in violation of section 40.240(a), the city may also require the employer to coordinate a one-hour training, approved by the director, covering employee rights protected under this chapter. The employer must compensate any employee who attends the training at a rate at least equivalent to the employee’s base rate.” The sponsor of the measure recently met with industry representatives and made clear that training is only an option for a settlement agreement, not a requirement. She stated she would not support any mandatory employer paid training language, and that that language would not have solid legal standing. A hearing is scheduled for July 30. More details.
Misc.
FTC – A federal judge has restored a Democrat to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), ruling that President Trump illegally fired her earlier this year in his efforts to exert control over independent agencies across the government. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan ruled that federal law protects FTC commissioners from being removed by the president without cause, citing a key 1935 U.S. Supreme Court decision involving the FTC. The decision allows Rebecca Kelly Slaughter to resume her duties as commissioner. The FTC website has been updated to show that Slaughter is among four sitting commissioners. Attorneys for the Trump administration almost immediately declared their intent to appeal, and the case could make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. More details.
Food Policy
MAHA – MAHA Action, a nonprofit that backs the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, launched a six-figure ad campaign backing President Trump and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts. MAHA Action is spending more than half a million dollars on the campaign to promote the Trump administration’s health agenda across cable television and social media platforms through Aug. 12, according to organizers. The campaign features an ad titled, “A New Day in America” focused on the “health revolution” enacted by Sec. Kennedy which will run on cable outlets and online in the D.C. area and nationwide. The campaign seeks to highlight the growing public support behind Trump and Kennedy’s MAHA agenda, specifically citing Kennedy’s push to reform the food industry and dietary guidelines. More details.
Delivery
Uber / Doordash – A California Superior Court judge ruled that Uber’s ongoing lawsuit against DoorDash can proceed. Uber sued DoorDash in Feb., alleging that its chief rival uses illegal tactics to get restaurants to sign exclusive contracts for first-party delivery (delivery orders that are placed directly through a restaurant’s website or app and fulfilled by third-party couriers). It cited testimony from more than a dozen restaurant brands that said they cancelled deals with Uber after DoorDash threatened them with higher rates or other penalties. DoorDash and Uber Eats are the first and second-largest restaurant delivery services in the U.S., respectively. DoorDash dominates the market for first-party delivery. According to the lawsuit, more than 90 of the 100 largest U.S. restaurant brands have exclusive or preferred first-party delivery contracts with DoorDash. More details.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Cracker Barrel – America First Legal (AFL) has called for an official probe into the company “for potential violations of federal and state civil rights laws stemming from its discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.” Some of Cracker Barrel’s initiatives to develop employees are focused specifically on supporting workers who are women, Black, LGBTQ+, or Latino, according to AFL. This means they “appear to offer employment benefits that are only available based on an employees’ race or sex,” the Washington D.C.-based law group said in a press release on Monday. The firm has formally requested that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti investigate Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. for alleged violations. More details.
Key Takeaways
- For the second time in a month, a Muslim Democratic socialist state lawmaker in his 30s has defeated the establishment candidate for mayor of his city. In the New York City mayoral primary in June, Zohran Mamdani upset former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Last weekend, state Sen. Omar Fatch, claimed the Democratic-Farm-Labor (DFL) party’s endorsement for mayor of Minneapolis over two-term incumbent mayor Jacob Frey – also a DFL member. Similarly to Mamdani in New York City, Fateh is promising a more progressive approach than the incumbent mayor. Frey is a moderate who has clashed with the city council’s left-wing majority over issues such as rent control, rideshare driver pay, and, importantly, labor standards. For the business community, these trendlines should be watched closely as numerous other major metros – Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and Seattle – hold mayoral elections this year. Searching for a response to recent electoral results, many national Democrats think the road to political relevance lies within an embrace of full progressivism. Employers should take note.
- Last week, we reported on the latest major study by the National Bureau of Economic Research unequivocally demonstrating California’s $20/hr minimum wage law’s negative impact on employment. Additionally, over the past few months, there has also been a significant uptick in media coverage of the impact that California’s wage laws are having on entry-level workers. This week, the Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board took dead aim at the law in a scathing editorial literally mocking the “magical thinking” of progressives on this issue noting that the authors of the NBER study actually cautioned that their analysis likely understates the negative effects of large minimum-wage increases. The national narrative on minimum and tipped wages has been transformed in the last few years. The industry needs to take full advantage of that.
Podcast
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