Ontario residents next Tuesday will vote in a special election to decide on two measures backed by Unite Here Local 11, the union representing hospitality workers in the city.
Unite Here Local 11 claims Measures V and W will improve wages for workers and give voters in the city more input on the development of future large event venues. The union represents workers at the Ontario International Airport, Convention Center, the DoubleTree Hotel and Toyota Arena.
But city officials argue the ballot initiatives serve outside special interests and hurt economic activity connected to tourism and events. The election has cost the city $1.2 million, according to city staff reports.
Measure V attempts to require those employers to increase the minimum wage for service and hotel workers to $21 an hour next July. The wage rates would then increase every year, until it caps at $30 an hour in 2030. It would then be adjusted based on the area’s Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation and the average change in prices over time.
The measure also requires hotel workers to not be required to clean no more than 3,500 square feet of room space in a workday unless they receive overtime pay. And employers will have to take stronger security measures to make sure hotel workers are safe like giving them access to “electronic contract devices” in emergency cases.
Meanwhile, Measure W would leave it to voters to decide the fate of large hotel and event center spaces by mandating for “major hotel development” projects larger than 50,000 square feet or with a seating capacity of 1,000 seats or more.
Juan Muñoz, a political coordinator and researcher with Unite Here Local 11, said that Measure V and W are “common sense” proposals that will help hundreds of workers that live and work in Ontario.
“This is about improving the standards for a key component of the city's economy,” said Muñoz. "We've seen many proposals come forward, but as they're investing in that growth, we really need to ask the question about what protections and what types of jobs are we creating in our community.”
The City Council argues that both measures are outside of the realm of the city’s jurisdiction and that they will impact Ontario’s economy through unsustainable wage increases that only benefit workers with Unite Here Local 11.
City Manager Scott Ochoa said the council has already addressed security measures by adopting an ordinance to protect service workers at hotels and event centers. Ochoa also argues that the measures will only apply to Ontario’s hotels, not the broader Inland Empire, which would create economic harm by pushing businesses to neighboring and competing cities.
“So what happens? Nothing happens. No project goes forward,” said Ochoa. “And because this applies only to Ontario, what do [business developers] do? They go right across into Jurupa Valley or Eastvale or Chino or Rancho, or Fontana or Montclair. It is a race to the bottom in the context of letting the leaves be more important than the tree.”
Ochoa also said he wishes there was more of a dialogue with the union. He claims to have never had a conversation with representatives of the union, only their lawyers.
“This is not about Ontario versus labor. This is about Ontario versus Unite Here Local 11 and their tactics,” he said. “We can have a realistic dialog, a meaningful dialog, on what is important to people that live and work in this community. But if all you're going to do is grandstand, then all you're going to do is not move any meaningful change anywhere.”
Muñoz rebuffed Ochoa’s claims. “We wholeheartedly reject the city manager's assertion. I think he wants to pretend that hospitality workers and tourism workers do not live in the city.”
Ontario’s special election is set for Tuesday, Mar. 24. Voters in the city have until 8 pm to get to the polls. Visit elections.sbcounty.gov for more info on your polling places.
