Cal State Long Beach and Long Beach community members discussed how to ensure that community members and hotel workers receive benefits from the $750 million investment of taxpayers’ dollars by the City of Long Beach in the tourism industry in downtown.
The College of Liberal Arts, the Center of Community Engagement, the Long Beach Coalition for Good Jobs and a Healthy Community and the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) conducted the town hall meeting Thursday evening in the Karl Anatol Center. Nearly 130 students, staff, faculty, community members and leaders attended.
The report, “A Tale of Two Cities: How Long Beach’s Investment in Downtown Tourism has Contributed to Poverty Next Door,” released by LAANE on Feb. 4 generated the town hall discussion.
The findings from the LAANE report were explained by Gary Hytrek, a sociology professor at CSULB.
The panel at the meeting was compiled of community, religious and labor leaders. Plans to change what the study reported as low wages of hotel workers in Long Beach compared to nearby areas, such as the Los Angeles International Airport.
Gerry Riposa, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said in order to make CSULB an urban university, the campus must connect with the community and the problems facing those in Long Beach.
Dennis Rockway, the advocacy director of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, suggested insisting upon minimum standards for living wages from the hospitality industry.
“If some hotels want to pay poverty wages, that’s up to them but we shouldn’t be giving them subsidies,” Rockway said.
A senior researcher at the Los Angeles Economic Roundtable, Patrick Burns, presented an increase in hourly wages to $12 that would create more jobs in Long Beach.
“Not only would there be a direct benefit for the workers but household spending would increase … bringing $7 million gain in local economy,” Burns said.
The L.A. Economic Roundtable is a non-profit, “public benefit” corporation aimed at creating self-sufficient economic programs for individuals and communities.
According to 54th district State Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, city legislators fought to change the poverty issue in Long Beach, but due to “lack of planning and human infrastructure,” that hasn’t happened. Lowenthal urged everyone in the community to be involved in this issue to ensure change.
Long Beach Hilton workers, Maria Patlan and Romeo Trinidad then gave their emotional testimonies.
Patlan worked at the Hilton for 10 years until her work-related injuries caused her to leave. She lives in a one-bedroom apartment in Long Beach with two of her four children, and one grandchild.
In regards to Hilton workers and other Long Beach hotel workers, Patlan said, “We’re human beings, we’re not machines.”
Trinidad shared her sentiment.
He too lives in a one-bedroom apartment with his wife and two daughters, who currently sleep in the living room.
“I want my daughters to have their own room,” Trinidad said.
The expectations from those who attended the meeting were high after the discussion ended. Many signed drafted letters to the Long Beach City Council and Long Beach hotels prepared by meeting organizers.
“I hope the owners finally give workers a chance to organize and that employees of the Hilton come out [from] their fear of being penalized,” said Myesia Mimms, a Hilton worker. Mimms believes an hourly wage of $14 to $15 would help hotel workers offset the cost of living and provide for their families.
Jeannine Pearce, asociology major at CSULB, felt the meeting gave everyone a chance to be more engaged.
“It brought together people talking about the same issues as a co-op to address poverty in Long Beach,” Pearce said.
In a Feb. 25 Daily Forty-Niner article, dissenters of the LAANE findings suggested that worker’s pay should not be increased until workers obtain more skills training.
To view the report, visit www.goodjobslongbeach.org or www.laane.org.
