Santa Monica’s latest labor fight is headed straight for the shoreline, as the City Council on Tuesday weighs a draft ordinance that would tighten recall rules for hospitality workers on city-owned land and the Santa Monica Pier. The proposal would give laid-off workers a formal right to be called back and new job-retention protections when businesses change hands, a move supporters say is crucial to keeping seasoned staff in place as the city braces for major international events and ongoing economic uncertainty.
What the ordinance would do
The draft measure would broaden Santa Monica’s existing worker-recall code to cover hotels located on city-owned property and Pier hospitality businesses with five or more employees. Under the proposal, employers would have to issue recall offers in writing and give eligible workers at least 10 days to accept or decline.
Workers laid off for economic reasons after Sept. 9, 2025, would qualify if they had been on the job for at least six months and had worked at least 2 hours per week within the city. The ordinance also calls for a 90-day retention period after a change in business control, with written job offers and a performance evaluation required at the end of that stretch, according to Santa Monica Daily Press.
Labor groups press for recall rights
Unions and worker advocates have been leaning on the council to lock in recall protections, arguing that they help keep hospitality jobs local when demand spikes around big events or when businesses shuffle ownership. UNITE HERE Local 11 has highlighted recent closures on the Pier and circulated a petition urging the council to pass a right-to-recall ordinance so displaced workers are first in line to return when jobs reopen.
City rationale and the fight ahead
City staff frame the ordinance as an effort to limit the fallout that can follow ownership changes and to keep institutional knowledge on the Pier rather than watching it walk away. Interim City Attorney Heidi Von Tongeln warned in a staff report that changes in ownership "can trigger mass layoffs," and business groups are already pushing back, arguing that related labor-peace provisions in the broader package could be vulnerable to federal labor-law preemption challenges, according to Santa Monica Daily Press.
What happens next
The council is expected to introduce the ordinance for a first reading at Tuesday’s meeting. If it advances, the proposal could return for additional public hearings, tweaks, and debate before a final vote. In the meantime, both labor and business interests are likely to keep lobbying hard, with legal challenges still on the table if the council ultimately signs off on the broader package.
