One week after community organizers secured victory via the ballot box on a measure that mandates safety measures for Long Beach hotel workers, the City Council approved its own ordinance about the very same issue.

While voter-approved Measure WW will provide panic button for workers at hotels in the city with 50 or more guest rooms, the ordinance passed Tuesday night by the City Council applied to all hotels. WW will supersede the ordinance where it applies,  leaving the council’s decision to govern only hotels with less than 50 rooms.

Under the dual ordinances, all city hotels will be required to have panic buttons for employees, a precaution deemed necessary to help combat unsafe working conditions for housekeeping staff who could be susceptible to assaults or sexual advances from hotel guests.

“Frankly, with the election behind us I’m looking forward to moving forward with one ordinance that makes sense, and I think it does make sense,” said 9th District Councilman Rex Richardson, one of the council members who advocated for Measure WW.

However, there are key differences between the measure and the ordinance. Measure WW sets daily workload caps for employees—4,000 square feet per day—and stipulates that retaliation from employers for using the panic buttons is prohibited. The measure also provides an avenue for an opt-out if a hotel enters into a collective bargaining agreement with its employees.

What happens if Long Beach has 2 hotel worker protection ordinances

Those difference prompted some controversy when the ordinance had its first reading two weeks ago, a week before the election. Four council members who advocated for Measure WW decided to walk out of the chambers.

The vote to advance the ordinance just before the election could be seen as an attempt to confuse voters over the need for Measure WW, according to some council members. Those who voted for the ordinance saw Measure WW as flawed by its collective bargaining opt-out, which they considered a nod to unions who were backing the measure and some of the council members supporting it.

Tuesday night’s vote did not inspire another walk out, nor did it end the discussion on hotel safety. 2nd District Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce noted that the ordinance did not include protections for contract workers. It also lacked other elements WW has, such as the anti-retaliation component and requirements that hotels post notices about the panic buttons in guests’ rooms.

The ordinance was ultimately passed by a unanimous vote, but it was done so with the understanding that it would come back to the council for amendments that could better enforce the intent of the ordinance for smaller hotels.

Measure WW cannot be certified until election results from Los Angeles County are made official and placed on the City Council agenda to be approved. However, the ordinance passed Tuesday will become active 31 days after the mayor signs it.

No timetable was set for when the council would bring the ordinance back for any proposed amendments.