The bike ride met at the HUB on the corner of 4th St. and redondo Ave. Photos by Brian Addison.

Long Beach community supporters and the Long Beach Coalition for Good Jobs and a Healthy Community came together to create a bike ride in support of Measure N, the living wages for hotel workers initiative appearing on the ballot this November.

The measure—largely brought forth by UniteHere, a hotel workers union—will seek to, amongst other benefits, provide a minimum wage of $13 per hour while automatically providing employees with a 2% raise each year for those working at non-union hotels with over 100 rooms.

Supporters of the measure insist they are not looking for a hand-out, but simply a way to live what they consider to be a normal life that is not relegated to a month-to-month basis. Critics, however, are more worried about the loss of revenue—which they fear will snowball each year—generated at the hotels as well as fears of major layoffs to cover the bottom-line.

The bike ride’s main focus was to have riders—about 25 participated and included both hotel workers and supporters—stop and gather at the small businesses throughout Long Beach that also support the measure.

“We love partnering with [supportive businesses] because many of these small businesses are family-owned,” stated Nikole Cababa, one of the community organizers who led the bike ride. “They understand what a difference a living wage would mean for workers, their families, and the local economy.”

Community organizer Nikole Cababa speaks to the bike riders.

Meeting at 404 Bikes in Belmont Heights, their first stop took them to Iguana Imports near Broadway and Redondo.

Tom Reed, who owns Iguana with his partner, asked, “Who doesn’t want a better world?” as he began to question the ethics of avoiding the measure. “It’s important that everyone in our city as well as our country has a living wage. I’m both honored and proud to be involved in a city that has a measure such as this one and I hope I can see it pass.”

Justina Fenton, owner and operator of Shortnin’ Bread in the East Village Arts District, echoed the same mentality. “I support Long Beach being a positive leader for the fight for a sustainable living for all people.”

Reed also held more than just a philosophical standpoint in supporting the measure. “Coming from a small business perspective, we NEED a living wage. We can’t have the people who support us being able to only get the basic needs—y’know, milk, bread, rent. They need means beyond that. We want them to shop.”

The ride also took them to Utopia, Native Sol, Long Beach Depot for Creative Re-Use, Primal Flowers, and Kress Market, amongst others in support of Measure N.

“Hundreds of these businesses have pledged to support the Living Wage Measure N this November because they know it will benefit everyone,” claimed Cababa. “We should be proud that these local businesses support Long Beach workers. I hope that these big hotels invest in our city and the workers that make Long Beach a great place to stay and visit. It just makes sense.”