Labor’s minimum wage loophole leaves its members behind

Santa Monica’s yearly minimum wage increase went into effect on July 1 and reached as high as $15.66 per hour for hotel workers. But at least one group of employees didn’t feel the benefit: Hotel employees represented by UNITE HERE Local 11. This isn’t a quirk in the city’s minimum wage law, but rather an intentional omission designed to grease the proverbial skids of Local 11’s organizing efforts.
The story starts in 2015, when the Santa Monica City Council was deb