Voters in California have rejected a poll measure that may have made the state minimal wage the best within the US by 2026, at $18 an hour.
The present minimal wage charges are $16 an hour for many employees and $20 within the fast-food sector. The state’s healthcare sector will finally see its minimal wage attain $25 an hour.
However voters narrowly rejected a measure to elevate salaries for a broader swath of employees. The Related Press known as the vote on Tuesday night, with 49.2% of state voters voting “sure”.
Proponents estimated that the measure would have benefited 2 million employees, together with resort and grocery workers.
“Proposition 32’s failure to move is disappointing for all Californians who imagine that everybody who works ought to earn sufficient to help their households,” mentioned Kathy Finn, president of UFCW 770, a southern California union representing almost 30,000 employees in varied sectors.
Opponents of the measure had argued it might have elevated prices, led to increased taxes and pushed companies to chop jobs.
“With the economic system and prices high of thoughts for a lot of voters this election, that message seems to have resonated,” mentioned Jennifer Barrera, the president and CEO of the California chamber of commerce.
Polling by the Related Press and Norc on the College of Chicago recommend that California voters noticed the economic system as an important subject dealing with the nation, forward of immigration, the local weather and abortion entry.
In 2016, California grew to become the primary state to move a $15 hourly minimal wage underneath a regulation signed by Jerry Brown, the governor on the time . About 40 cities and counties have already got minimal wages increased than the statewide fee, and 6 of them require minimums above $18 an hour as of this 12 months.
Hawaii handed a regulation in 2022 to step by step enhance the statewide minimal wage to $18 an hour, however it doesn’t take impact till 2028.
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