In a landmark moment for San Diego’s lowest paid service workers, the City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a $25 minimum wage targeting thousands of employees in the tourism industry, from hotel housekeepers to ballpark ticket takers.
The council, which voted 8-0 to approve the wage increase, agreed to phase it in over a four-year period — a concession worked out with tourism industry stakeholders in the weeks leading up to the hearing. By the time the wage reaches $25 in 2030, it will amount to a 45% hike in the current citywide minimum wage of $17.25 an hour. Councilmember Raul Campillo was absent from the meeting.
The meeting was attended by hundreds of people on both sides of the issue, with numerous individuals speaking over roughly 2 1/2 hours. The law will not take effect until next summer, a big change from a much earlier proposal to have the full $25-an-hour increase become effective in January.
The tourism industry minimum wage was opposed by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and most of the hospitality industry, which had raised $1.6 million for a potential ballot measure to overturn the wage increase. Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, who led the effort, had reached a compromise to allow for a gradual phase-in for amusement parks, hotels and major event centers like Petco Park.
“San Diego should work for San Diegans,” Elo-Rivera said at the meeting. “The struggle to make that idea a reality has led workers in our city to ask what side are we on.”
Tourism workers were out in force, wearing “Respect Our Work” T-shirts and urging the council to increase the minimum wage to keep up with the region’s rising cost of living.
“The billionaires will say they have the best interests of the working class in mind,” said Christian Ramirez, policy director with service workers union SEIU-USWW. “They say the sky will fall, tourism will come to an end. The fact is your constituents, especially those south of Interstate 8, will say the sky has been falling.”
The wage mandate would affect thousands of lower-paid workers, from hotel housekeepers to Pechanga Arena workers. The proposal was backed by local unions and would not affect already negotiated labor contracts. San Diego Zoo workers were exempted from the new law because its unionized workers this summer negotiated an agreement that provided for better wages.
Hotels with 150 or more rooms, as well as amusement parks, which would only affect SeaWorld, would be subject to a $19 hourly wage starting July 1, rising by $1.50 a year thereafter, reaching $25 by 2030.
The Padres, who had previously argued that it already complies with the living wage ordinance, will start Petco Park workers at an hourly wage of $21.06 on July 1 and scale up to $25 an hour by 2030. Other event centers like Pechanga Arena and the San Diego Convention Center, would have the same phase-in.
San Diego officials said that there are 89 hotels in the city with at least 150 guest rooms, and those properties account for more than 27,000 rooms. On the flip side, there are 180 hotels that contain fewer than 150 rooms, and together these hotels have more than 12,000 rooms.
Following the hearing, the San Diego County Lodging Association released a statement pointing out the challenges of the wage proposal, despite the four-year phase-in.
“The City Council’s approval of a $25 minimum wage remains a significant lift for our hospitality community at a time when San Diego is facing broader economic headwinds and has yet to recover from the global pandemic,” the association said. “The phased-in approach provides some breathing room and will mitigate some of the expected negative impacts of such a large increase.
“We remain committed to paying competitive wages and supporting our workforce. At the same time, we are concerned that such cost mandates may not be sustainable for some businesses.”
Lodging Association Board Chairman Robert Gleason did acknowledge, however, that some of the changes made to the minimum wage proposal seems to have blunted the referendum effort.
Many workers and their representatives were unmoved by hotel operators, many suggesting the $25-an-hour minimum wage start immediately. They held signs that said “Which side are you on?” with “working class” circled and “billionaires” crossed out.
Ana Ramos, a community organizer with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, or ACCE, addressed hotel operators concerns by saying they may have to forgo a new car to pay workers more.
“It’s a shame you are putting profit over people,” Ramos said. “I think it takes nerve to say doing nothing is better for the economy than to create livable and decent jobs. Maybe you shouldn’t be in business.”
Several hoteliers not covered by the ordinance argued they would have to raise wages anyway to keep workers, who could just walk across the street to get a higher paying job. Proponents said that was a good thing, saying all workers in San Diego need higher wages.
In an emailed statement after the vote, Elo-Rivera said the city chose to side with workers.
“This victory belongs to the housekeepers, cooks, janitors, servers, stagehands, and event staff,” he wrote, “who told their stories and refused to back down.”
City staff cited other California cities that had similar laws. Voters in Long Beach approved a measure that increased hotel workers’ wages to $29.50 an hour by 2028, while the Los Angeles City Council has backed a proposal to raise the minimum wage of tourism workers to $30 an hour within the next three years.
Statewide legislation led to a $20-an-hour minimum wage for all fast-food workers that went into effect last year. Speakers for both sides at the City Council cited competing studies that said either it hurt the fast food industry or did nothing.
In addition to the San Diego Zoo, two San Diego State University entertainment and sports venues, Snapdragon Stadium and Viejas Arena, were left out of the proposed wage increase for a couple of different reasons. In the case of Viejas, the university argued that the arena did not consistently attract the kind of high-profile events that would allow it to easily cover the higher wages mandated by a new minimum wage.
Staff writer Lori Weisberg contributed to this report.
Originally Published: September 16, 2025 at 7:41 PM PDT