Two trade groups representing large hotels in Los Angeles announced they have filed for a preliminary injunction to block the city from implementing its law raising hotel wages until their lawsuit against the city is resolved. The American Hotel & Lodging Association and the Asian American Hotel Owners Association filed for the preliminary injunction Monday in federal court in Los Angeles. The motion asks the court to suspend implementation of the $15.37-an-hour wage for large hotels in the city set to begin July 1 until a decision is reached on their lawsuit. The two trade groups filed a lawsuit against the city last month alleging that the wage hike enacted last fall, called the Hotel Workers Act, improperly disrupts the relationship between labor and employers set forth in federal law. The city ordinance requires an estimated 80 hotels with more than 150 rooms to pay their workers at least $15.37 an hour. The measure would affect at least seven Valley hotels, from the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City with 485 rooms to the Best Western Plus Carriage Inn Hotel in Sherman Oaks with 180. In a statement after filing for the injunction, American Hotel & Lodging Association President Katherine Lugar said an injunction is necessary “to prevent labor unions from employing the (Hotel Workers) Act to exact potentially irreversible concessions from hotels in the city until a decision is reached.” A hearing on the injunction filing and the lawsuit is set for the week of March 23 before U.S. District Court Judge Andre Birotte.
