Los Angeles City Hall (Creative Commons/Flickr)

Councilmembers Mike Bonin, Curren Price, Gil Cedillo and Nury Martinez introduced two motions Tuesday: to back Mayor Garcetti's proposal to raise the city’s minimum wage to $13.25 by 2017, and to protect workers against wage theft.  

Earlier this month, the Council approved a higher wage of $15.37 per hour for employees of large hotels. However, the motions discussed today would affect all low-wage workers in the city. 

There have been several attempts to adopt a wage theft ordinance in past years, largely met with little progress. In 2009, there was a request for the City Attorney to draft a Wage Theft Ordinance to criminalize the practice of wage theft in L.A., but it has since expired. In the city that is considered “the wage theft capital of the country,” according to Cedillo, the Councilman said the situation has been slow, but progress is being made. 

READ MORE: Mayor Garcetti's Minimum Wage Proposal Draws Concern From Valley Residents

“Obviously the economy is delicate and coming out of a recession and that is a challenge,” Cedillo said. “We have a new council with a lot of experienced members from Sacramento, coupled with leadership here in the city, that are willing to take steps that are bold but prudent.” 

According to the motion, low-wage workers in L.A. currently lose more than $26.2 million per week as a result of wage theft violations. The motion proposed today would allocate an agency to enforce existing minimum wage laws.

The motion also cited other cities including San Francisco, Seattle and Houston that have similar labor standards in place to protect employees against wage theft. 

“We want to make sure that when employers and employees have an agreement about how much they are going to be paid when they work, that should be honored and you need someone to oversee that,” Cedillo said. 

The motion to increase minimum wage provided that within 120 days, a draft ordinance would be created to establish a minimum wage for all employees working in the city, that would increase over the next three years, effective July 1 of each year, to $13.25 an hour on July 1, 2017. 

Councilmembers are also requesting an independent study on how to increase the minimum wage to $15.25 per hour by 2019.  

“Our perspective is that there is such a huge divide between wealth and poverty in the nation generally, but also specifically in Los Angeles,” Cedillo said. “The way to address that specifically in a city that is a high-wage city, is to raise the wages at those at the bottom of economic pyramid.” 

SEE ALSO: Vice President In LA To Discuss Minimum Wage Increase

Vice President Joe Biden met with the four councilmembers this morning to discuss the increase and express his support of the two motions. 

“He was focused and adamant that the country needs to do this, and that by having Los Angeles having a leading role it is really helpful to the rest of the country,” Cedillo said of Biden. 

Reach Staff Reporter Emily Goldberg here.