The California Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal of of a lower court ruling that upheld a law guaranteeing a "living wage" to workers at hotels near Los Angeles International Airport.

This is good news for many of the approximately 3,500 workers there. Salary data is hard to come by, but many workers there make an hourly wage of less than $10.64 per hour ($9.39 an hour if health benefits are included). The hotels have argued that many of the lowest-salaried workers take home more than living wage when tips are factored in. The court decision is also a victory for Unite Here, the hotel workers' union, which has led a massive union organizing campaign at the hotels (it's one of the largest organizing efforts in the country) and has made the living wage a rallying cry. That campaign has real momentum; one of the hotels, the LAX Westin, recently agreed to unionization. As an LA Times reporter, I covered the organizing campaign and talked to a lot of these workers; they work very hard -- you should see how heavy bedspreads and pillows are when you're a housekeeper making up 16 hotel rooms day -- and deserve every dollar they can get.

On a less human and more constitutional level, the decision may undermine the people's right to referendum. The living wage law that was upheld was actually the second such law passed to benefit these hotel workers. The first living wage drew a referendum from the hotels and Los Angeles business community. In the face of that referendum, the Los Angeles city council repealed the first law -- but then, after negotiations but no final agreement with business leaders, the council passed the second law which also imposed a living wage but had new provisions added. This appeared to be a way to dodge the referendum. A Superior Judge thought so, but then an appeals court overruled that decision--finding that the second law was substantially different than the first. The Supreme Court, by letting this appeals court decision stand Thursday, may encourage other city councils -- particularly in charter cities such as Los Angeles -- to dodge referenda in similar ways.