The San Diego City Council will Tuesday discuss raising the minimum wage for some hospitality workers in the city to $25 an hour, phased out over several years – one day after a downtown rally by union leaders, workers, and business owners.
What was initially intended as an immediate infusion of higher wages for all workers in San Diego’s tourism industry suddenly has many carve-outs and a phased-in timeline, per the most recent iteration of the ordinance placed on the council’s docket last week.
While not expressly stated in city documents, this may be an attempt to avoid an expensive legal battle by affected entities.
If passed, the ordinance would dictate that workers “at hospitality employers, which include hotels with at least 150 guest rooms, amusement parks, and event centers,” would see a raise from the city’s current minimum wage of $17.25 an hour to a higher wage on July 1, 2026, the start of the next fiscal year.
This higher wage is divided between workers at event centers ($21.06 in 2026, $22 in 2027, $23 in 2028, $24 in 2029 and finally $25 in 2030) and those in hotels and amusement parks, ($19 in 2026, $20.50 in 2027, $22 in 2028, $23.50 in 2029 and $25 in 2030).
Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera proposed the ordinance, which unanimously passed the Select Committee on Addressing Cost of Living in June.
“This is not radical, this is what basic dignity demands,” Elo-Rivera said at the time, before denouncing comments from some of the city’s largest businesses that such a proposal would cost tens of thousands of jobs. “We’ve heard these scare tactics before. Every time they say the sky will fall and every time they are wrong.”
Some of the venues affected by the proposal include city-owned Petco Park, Pechanga Arena San Diego, the San Diego Convention Center and Civic Theatre, along with large hotels such as the Manchester Grand Hyatt and Marriott Marquis, among others.
But not every entity would have to pay the higher wages. San Diego State University, being owned by the state of California, would find itself exempt for Viejas Arena and the Cal Coast Credit Union Amphitheatre. The San Diego Zoo is also exempt from the bill; however, SeaWorld San Diego is not.
Elo-Rivera said the move follows a pattern Los Angeles and Long Beach have undertaken to raise wages before the 2028 Olympic Games.
Many of those from the business community disagreed with the proposal, including Chris Cate, president and chief executive officer of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, himself a former city councilman.
“San Diego is an expensive city to live in,” he said in June. “This will not make it easier to afford to live in San Diego.”
A report from the city’s Independent Budget Analyst’s office offered a middle ground. The non-partisan office found that minimum wage increases had not had a marked impact on several Californian cities’ transient occupancy taxes (a hotel tax), but raising the minimum wage to $25 per hour could both benefit workers and cause large businesses such as hotels to cut employee hours and services offered.
Since the council adopted the Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance in 2016, minimum wage within the city’s boundaries has increased from $10.50 to $17.25 — higher than California’s $16.50 hourly rate and far higher than the nation’s $7.25 per hour mark.
However, the cost of living in San Diego has increased independently of the minimum wage. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator, a single person would need to earn $30.71 per hour in San Diego County to support themselves while working full-time. A two-adult and one-child household would need to earn $49.13 per hour by the same calculator.
When the idea was pitched, a beloved San Diego institution balked at the potential costs.
“The Padres are proud to be a major economic contributor and a committed community partner,” said Caroline Perry, chief operating officer of the San Diego Padres. “We pay the highest mandated wage in Major League Baseball through the city’s Living Wage Ordinance, which adjusts annually for inflation.
“We believe in fair, competitive wages, but this proposal is too extreme. It would drive up the cost of living, make it harder for San Diegans to attend games, and hurt the local businesses that rely on Petco Park. We urge the City Council to reject it.”
The Padres broke their single-season franchise attendance record in 2024, drawing 3,314,593 fans to Petco Park. The franchise is valued at $1.95 billion, more than triple what the late Peter Seidler paid for the team in 2012, according to Forbes.
“Being San Diego’s team means standing with San Diegans, not against them,” Elo-Rivera said.
