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Across Florida, members of 32BJ SEIU "knocked on nearly 44,000 doors, held rallies, made calls, sent texts, and spoke to voters" about an amendment to raise the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour, according to the union. (Photo: 32BJ SEIU Florida/Twitter)
In a pair of wins for workers, residents across the state of Florida and in Portland, Maine voted Tuesday for ballot measures to establish a $15 minimum hourly wage, more than double the $7.25 required at the federal level.
Welcoming the news out of the Sunshine State, Service Employee International Union (SEIU) president Mary Kay Henry said in a statement that "cooks and cashiers, airport workers, nursing home workers, higher ed workers, and janitors across the state of Florida demonstrated their power this election, turning cheers for essential workers into a historic raise for nearly 2.5 million Floridians."
"When working people come together, they can affect real change everywhere all across our country," she continued. "To corporations like McDonald's that have fought tooth and nail to silence workers: we are done with people at the top making decisions about us, without us. No matter where we live, we won't stop fighting until all workers are paid $15/hr and have a voice on the job."
Florida's minimum wage measure secured support from nearly two-thirds of voters, passing 61% to 39%, according to the New York Times. The now-approved Amendment 2 will gradually increase the state's minimum hourly wage from its current rate of $8.56 to $15 in September 2026.
\u201cBREAKING: Florida just became the 8th state to pass a $15 minimum wage with a SUPERMAJORITY of Floridians voting YES to Amendment 2. \n\nHats off to the efforts of the workers & volunteers in the #FLfor15 coalition. \n\nWe're just getting started! #FightFor15\u201d— Fight For 15 (@Fight For 15) 1604457038
Washington Post reporter Heather Long detailed the scheduled increases on Twitter:
\u201cFlorida voters approved a $15 minimum wage with 60.8% of the vote.\n\nFlorida is the 8th state to approve moving to $15.\n\nCurrent: $8.56/hr\n$10/hr effective Sept. 30, 2021\n$11 in Sept 2022\n$12 in Sept 2023\n$13 in Sept 2024\n$14 Sept 2025\n$15 Sept 2026\nhttps://t.co/xEb2aadm9V\u201d— Heather Long (@Heather Long) 1604498893
The amendment's approval was celebrated by workers and labor rights advocates within and beyond the state, with the Florida AFL-CIO declaring, "This is a huge win for the working people of the Sunshine State!"
"Oh my gosh... that will be a big change for me," Lakeland, Florida resident Faith Booker told the Associated Press of the wage boost on Tuesday night. "Sometimes I'm just short and have to pick and choose which bills to pay."
Booker, a mother of five, says the increase means she won't have to work two jobs to support her family. According to the AP, she currently works as a cashier at McDonald's and Burger King, earning $9.70 and $8.56 an hour, respectively.
\u201cFlorida voters approved an amendment to #RaiseTheWage to $15/hour over the coming years!\n\nThis will help more than 1 million households living near the poverty line, increase wages for 2.5 million people, & help reduce racial & gender disparities in pay.\nhttps://t.co/ShWoad4Ouz\u201d— Patriotic Millionaires (@Patriotic Millionaires) 1604515421
\u201cFL voters approved a ballot initiative to raise the state minimum wage from $8.56 to $15/hr by 2026. Farmworkers will be among those benefiting from the increase. However, like federal law, FL law excludes small agricultural employers from the minimum wage\nhttps://t.co/ffop2NinwM\u201d— Farmworker Justice (@Farmworker Justice) 1604502377
\u201c\u201cIncreasing the minimum wage would help me a lot \u2014 me and my daughter. Having food in the house. It would help me a lot to save money."\n- Jamelia Fairley, McDonald's worker \n\n#FLfor15 \n\nhttps://t.co/5dWEv5E93e\u201d— Fight for 15 Florida (@Fight for 15 Florida) 1604512954
As Eli Rosenberg reported for the Post Wednesday:
Ballot measures have become a tool for voters in conservative-leaning, as well as "purple" states where legislatures have declined or been unwilling to pass minimum wage increases to effect the change themselves, said Tsedeye Gebreselassie, a minimum wage expert at the National Employment Law Project. These states include Arizona, Missouri, Montana, Colorado, and Ohio, she said.
"Often times this has happened in states where legislatures are not friendly to it but it's very clear that [a] majority of electorate supports it," she said.
The states that have approved $15 an hour minimum wage increases are California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.
While welcoming the outcome in Florida, some progressives noted the contrast between support for the amendment and support for President Donald Trump, who was declared the winner of the state's 29 electoral votes by securing 51.2% of the vote compared with Democrat Joe Biden's 47.8%, according to the Times.
That a $15 minimum wage won in the state but Biden--who supports the policy--did not "should be a big wake-up call" and "ought to provoke some major soul-searching in the Democratic Party," said political observers.
\u201cthe fact that a $15 minimum wage won in Florida, and Biden probably won't, ought to provoke some major soul-searching in the Democratic Party https://t.co/B5td0LVHHP\u201d— Sarah Jones (@Sarah Jones) 1604466125
\u201cFlorida passsed $15 minimum wage by 22 points and Biden lost the state by 3 points. In case you're wondering, his position is $15 minimum wage. Obvious conclusion: DEMOCRATS SUCK AT MAKING THEIR OWN CASE. #Election2020\u201d— Cenk Uygur (@Cenk Uygur) 1604483114
Others pointed to the Florida victory for labor rights as evidence that Americans--even some who cast ballots for Trump, perhaps buying into his attempts to appeal to working-class voters in spite of his extensive anti-worker track record--want a progressive agenda.
\u201c72% want a "government-run healthcare plan"\n\nFlorida voted for a $15 minimum wage\n\nSD, AZ & NJ voted to legalize weed\n\nCO voted for 12 weeks of paid family & medical leave\n\nIt turns out a progressive agenda is what the American people want. But yeah, blame "socialism." Pathetic\u201d— Warren Gunnels (@Warren Gunnels) 1604510654
\u201cDFA\u2019s @ysimpsonpower on @ABC on an important 2020 lesson: The victories of $15/hr minimum wage in FL and Marijuana legalization in MT, states that Biden lost, show us that the strategy of not talking about progressive issues \u201cmay be why we\u2019re on pins and needles today.\u201d\u201d— Democracy for America (@Democracy for America) 1604519830
Meanwhile, in Maine--where Biden secured three of the state's four electoral votes but Republican Sen. Susan Collins also held onto her seat--Portland's minimum wage measure passed as part of a slate of five progressive proposals put on the ballot by People First Portland, a political action committee formed by the Southern Maine Democratic Socialists of America.
Four of those initiatives--the wage one plus a stronger ban facial surveillance technology, a Green New Deal for Portland, and rent control--were approved by voters, along with an unrelated referendum to get rid of a limit on local marijuana stores.
\u201cMinimum wage. Hazard Pay. Facial Surveillance Ban. Green New Deal. Rent Control. Portland says YES! We are proud to announce a victory for the working people who make up the core of our community.\u201d— People First Portland (@People First Portland) 1604471084
\u201cCongratulations to the voters of Portland, ME for passing referenda for a $15 minimum wage. \n\n#FightFor15\u201d— Fight For 15 (@Fight For 15) 1604471770
The Portland Press Heraldcalled the results "a forceful rebuke of the city's political establishment," pointing out that the People First Portland initiatives--including the unsuccessful one that would have further restricted short-term rentals--"were opposed by Mayor Kate Snyder, seven city councilors, local businesses, and affordable housing developers."
Unlike a 2015 minimum wage measure that failed in the city, this one "includes a provision that requires businesses to pay time and a half during a declared emergency," the newspaper noted. "That will give Portland the highest minimum wage in the country next month--$18 an hour--assuming city and state emergency declarations stemming from the coronavirus pandemic are still in effect."
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In a pair of wins for workers, residents across the state of Florida and in Portland, Maine voted Tuesday for ballot measures to establish a $15 minimum hourly wage, more than double the $7.25 required at the federal level.
Welcoming the news out of the Sunshine State, Service Employee International Union (SEIU) president Mary Kay Henry said in a statement that "cooks and cashiers, airport workers, nursing home workers, higher ed workers, and janitors across the state of Florida demonstrated their power this election, turning cheers for essential workers into a historic raise for nearly 2.5 million Floridians."
"When working people come together, they can affect real change everywhere all across our country," she continued. "To corporations like McDonald's that have fought tooth and nail to silence workers: we are done with people at the top making decisions about us, without us. No matter where we live, we won't stop fighting until all workers are paid $15/hr and have a voice on the job."
Florida's minimum wage measure secured support from nearly two-thirds of voters, passing 61% to 39%, according to the New York Times. The now-approved Amendment 2 will gradually increase the state's minimum hourly wage from its current rate of $8.56 to $15 in September 2026.
\u201cBREAKING: Florida just became the 8th state to pass a $15 minimum wage with a SUPERMAJORITY of Floridians voting YES to Amendment 2. \n\nHats off to the efforts of the workers & volunteers in the #FLfor15 coalition. \n\nWe're just getting started! #FightFor15\u201d— Fight For 15 (@Fight For 15) 1604457038
Washington Post reporter Heather Long detailed the scheduled increases on Twitter:
\u201cFlorida voters approved a $15 minimum wage with 60.8% of the vote.\n\nFlorida is the 8th state to approve moving to $15.\n\nCurrent: $8.56/hr\n$10/hr effective Sept. 30, 2021\n$11 in Sept 2022\n$12 in Sept 2023\n$13 in Sept 2024\n$14 Sept 2025\n$15 Sept 2026\nhttps://t.co/xEb2aadm9V\u201d— Heather Long (@Heather Long) 1604498893
The amendment's approval was celebrated by workers and labor rights advocates within and beyond the state, with the Florida AFL-CIO declaring, "This is a huge win for the working people of the Sunshine State!"
"Oh my gosh... that will be a big change for me," Lakeland, Florida resident Faith Booker told the Associated Press of the wage boost on Tuesday night. "Sometimes I'm just short and have to pick and choose which bills to pay."
Booker, a mother of five, says the increase means she won't have to work two jobs to support her family. According to the AP, she currently works as a cashier at McDonald's and Burger King, earning $9.70 and $8.56 an hour, respectively.
\u201cFlorida voters approved an amendment to #RaiseTheWage to $15/hour over the coming years!\n\nThis will help more than 1 million households living near the poverty line, increase wages for 2.5 million people, & help reduce racial & gender disparities in pay.\nhttps://t.co/ShWoad4Ouz\u201d— Patriotic Millionaires (@Patriotic Millionaires) 1604515421
\u201cFL voters approved a ballot initiative to raise the state minimum wage from $8.56 to $15/hr by 2026. Farmworkers will be among those benefiting from the increase. However, like federal law, FL law excludes small agricultural employers from the minimum wage\nhttps://t.co/ffop2NinwM\u201d— Farmworker Justice (@Farmworker Justice) 1604502377
\u201c\u201cIncreasing the minimum wage would help me a lot \u2014 me and my daughter. Having food in the house. It would help me a lot to save money."\n- Jamelia Fairley, McDonald's worker \n\n#FLfor15 \n\nhttps://t.co/5dWEv5E93e\u201d— Fight for 15 Florida (@Fight for 15 Florida) 1604512954
As Eli Rosenberg reported for the Post Wednesday:
Ballot measures have become a tool for voters in conservative-leaning, as well as "purple" states where legislatures have declined or been unwilling to pass minimum wage increases to effect the change themselves, said Tsedeye Gebreselassie, a minimum wage expert at the National Employment Law Project. These states include Arizona, Missouri, Montana, Colorado, and Ohio, she said.
"Often times this has happened in states where legislatures are not friendly to it but it's very clear that [a] majority of electorate supports it," she said.
The states that have approved $15 an hour minimum wage increases are California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.
While welcoming the outcome in Florida, some progressives noted the contrast between support for the amendment and support for President Donald Trump, who was declared the winner of the state's 29 electoral votes by securing 51.2% of the vote compared with Democrat Joe Biden's 47.8%, according to the Times.
That a $15 minimum wage won in the state but Biden--who supports the policy--did not "should be a big wake-up call" and "ought to provoke some major soul-searching in the Democratic Party," said political observers.
\u201cthe fact that a $15 minimum wage won in Florida, and Biden probably won't, ought to provoke some major soul-searching in the Democratic Party https://t.co/B5td0LVHHP\u201d— Sarah Jones (@Sarah Jones) 1604466125
\u201cFlorida passsed $15 minimum wage by 22 points and Biden lost the state by 3 points. In case you're wondering, his position is $15 minimum wage. Obvious conclusion: DEMOCRATS SUCK AT MAKING THEIR OWN CASE. #Election2020\u201d— Cenk Uygur (@Cenk Uygur) 1604483114
Others pointed to the Florida victory for labor rights as evidence that Americans--even some who cast ballots for Trump, perhaps buying into his attempts to appeal to working-class voters in spite of his extensive anti-worker track record--want a progressive agenda.
\u201c72% want a "government-run healthcare plan"\n\nFlorida voted for a $15 minimum wage\n\nSD, AZ & NJ voted to legalize weed\n\nCO voted for 12 weeks of paid family & medical leave\n\nIt turns out a progressive agenda is what the American people want. But yeah, blame "socialism." Pathetic\u201d— Warren Gunnels (@Warren Gunnels) 1604510654
\u201cDFA\u2019s @ysimpsonpower on @ABC on an important 2020 lesson: The victories of $15/hr minimum wage in FL and Marijuana legalization in MT, states that Biden lost, show us that the strategy of not talking about progressive issues \u201cmay be why we\u2019re on pins and needles today.\u201d\u201d— Democracy for America (@Democracy for America) 1604519830
Meanwhile, in Maine--where Biden secured three of the state's four electoral votes but Republican Sen. Susan Collins also held onto her seat--Portland's minimum wage measure passed as part of a slate of five progressive proposals put on the ballot by People First Portland, a political action committee formed by the Southern Maine Democratic Socialists of America.
Four of those initiatives--the wage one plus a stronger ban facial surveillance technology, a Green New Deal for Portland, and rent control--were approved by voters, along with an unrelated referendum to get rid of a limit on local marijuana stores.
\u201cMinimum wage. Hazard Pay. Facial Surveillance Ban. Green New Deal. Rent Control. Portland says YES! We are proud to announce a victory for the working people who make up the core of our community.\u201d— People First Portland (@People First Portland) 1604471084
\u201cCongratulations to the voters of Portland, ME for passing referenda for a $15 minimum wage. \n\n#FightFor15\u201d— Fight For 15 (@Fight For 15) 1604471770
The Portland Press Heraldcalled the results "a forceful rebuke of the city's political establishment," pointing out that the People First Portland initiatives--including the unsuccessful one that would have further restricted short-term rentals--"were opposed by Mayor Kate Snyder, seven city councilors, local businesses, and affordable housing developers."
Unlike a 2015 minimum wage measure that failed in the city, this one "includes a provision that requires businesses to pay time and a half during a declared emergency," the newspaper noted. "That will give Portland the highest minimum wage in the country next month--$18 an hour--assuming city and state emergency declarations stemming from the coronavirus pandemic are still in effect."
In a pair of wins for workers, residents across the state of Florida and in Portland, Maine voted Tuesday for ballot measures to establish a $15 minimum hourly wage, more than double the $7.25 required at the federal level.
Welcoming the news out of the Sunshine State, Service Employee International Union (SEIU) president Mary Kay Henry said in a statement that "cooks and cashiers, airport workers, nursing home workers, higher ed workers, and janitors across the state of Florida demonstrated their power this election, turning cheers for essential workers into a historic raise for nearly 2.5 million Floridians."
"When working people come together, they can affect real change everywhere all across our country," she continued. "To corporations like McDonald's that have fought tooth and nail to silence workers: we are done with people at the top making decisions about us, without us. No matter where we live, we won't stop fighting until all workers are paid $15/hr and have a voice on the job."
Florida's minimum wage measure secured support from nearly two-thirds of voters, passing 61% to 39%, according to the New York Times. The now-approved Amendment 2 will gradually increase the state's minimum hourly wage from its current rate of $8.56 to $15 in September 2026.
\u201cBREAKING: Florida just became the 8th state to pass a $15 minimum wage with a SUPERMAJORITY of Floridians voting YES to Amendment 2. \n\nHats off to the efforts of the workers & volunteers in the #FLfor15 coalition. \n\nWe're just getting started! #FightFor15\u201d— Fight For 15 (@Fight For 15) 1604457038
Washington Post reporter Heather Long detailed the scheduled increases on Twitter:
\u201cFlorida voters approved a $15 minimum wage with 60.8% of the vote.\n\nFlorida is the 8th state to approve moving to $15.\n\nCurrent: $8.56/hr\n$10/hr effective Sept. 30, 2021\n$11 in Sept 2022\n$12 in Sept 2023\n$13 in Sept 2024\n$14 Sept 2025\n$15 Sept 2026\nhttps://t.co/xEb2aadm9V\u201d— Heather Long (@Heather Long) 1604498893
The amendment's approval was celebrated by workers and labor rights advocates within and beyond the state, with the Florida AFL-CIO declaring, "This is a huge win for the working people of the Sunshine State!"
"Oh my gosh... that will be a big change for me," Lakeland, Florida resident Faith Booker told the Associated Press of the wage boost on Tuesday night. "Sometimes I'm just short and have to pick and choose which bills to pay."
Booker, a mother of five, says the increase means she won't have to work two jobs to support her family. According to the AP, she currently works as a cashier at McDonald's and Burger King, earning $9.70 and $8.56 an hour, respectively.
\u201cFlorida voters approved an amendment to #RaiseTheWage to $15/hour over the coming years!\n\nThis will help more than 1 million households living near the poverty line, increase wages for 2.5 million people, & help reduce racial & gender disparities in pay.\nhttps://t.co/ShWoad4Ouz\u201d— Patriotic Millionaires (@Patriotic Millionaires) 1604515421
\u201cFL voters approved a ballot initiative to raise the state minimum wage from $8.56 to $15/hr by 2026. Farmworkers will be among those benefiting from the increase. However, like federal law, FL law excludes small agricultural employers from the minimum wage\nhttps://t.co/ffop2NinwM\u201d— Farmworker Justice (@Farmworker Justice) 1604502377
\u201c\u201cIncreasing the minimum wage would help me a lot \u2014 me and my daughter. Having food in the house. It would help me a lot to save money."\n- Jamelia Fairley, McDonald's worker \n\n#FLfor15 \n\nhttps://t.co/5dWEv5E93e\u201d— Fight for 15 Florida (@Fight for 15 Florida) 1604512954
As Eli Rosenberg reported for the Post Wednesday:
Ballot measures have become a tool for voters in conservative-leaning, as well as "purple" states where legislatures have declined or been unwilling to pass minimum wage increases to effect the change themselves, said Tsedeye Gebreselassie, a minimum wage expert at the National Employment Law Project. These states include Arizona, Missouri, Montana, Colorado, and Ohio, she said.
"Often times this has happened in states where legislatures are not friendly to it but it's very clear that [a] majority of electorate supports it," she said.
The states that have approved $15 an hour minimum wage increases are California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.
While welcoming the outcome in Florida, some progressives noted the contrast between support for the amendment and support for President Donald Trump, who was declared the winner of the state's 29 electoral votes by securing 51.2% of the vote compared with Democrat Joe Biden's 47.8%, according to the Times.
That a $15 minimum wage won in the state but Biden--who supports the policy--did not "should be a big wake-up call" and "ought to provoke some major soul-searching in the Democratic Party," said political observers.
\u201cthe fact that a $15 minimum wage won in Florida, and Biden probably won't, ought to provoke some major soul-searching in the Democratic Party https://t.co/B5td0LVHHP\u201d— Sarah Jones (@Sarah Jones) 1604466125
\u201cFlorida passsed $15 minimum wage by 22 points and Biden lost the state by 3 points. In case you're wondering, his position is $15 minimum wage. Obvious conclusion: DEMOCRATS SUCK AT MAKING THEIR OWN CASE. #Election2020\u201d— Cenk Uygur (@Cenk Uygur) 1604483114
Others pointed to the Florida victory for labor rights as evidence that Americans--even some who cast ballots for Trump, perhaps buying into his attempts to appeal to working-class voters in spite of his extensive anti-worker track record--want a progressive agenda.
\u201c72% want a "government-run healthcare plan"\n\nFlorida voted for a $15 minimum wage\n\nSD, AZ & NJ voted to legalize weed\n\nCO voted for 12 weeks of paid family & medical leave\n\nIt turns out a progressive agenda is what the American people want. But yeah, blame "socialism." Pathetic\u201d— Warren Gunnels (@Warren Gunnels) 1604510654
\u201cDFA\u2019s @ysimpsonpower on @ABC on an important 2020 lesson: The victories of $15/hr minimum wage in FL and Marijuana legalization in MT, states that Biden lost, show us that the strategy of not talking about progressive issues \u201cmay be why we\u2019re on pins and needles today.\u201d\u201d— Democracy for America (@Democracy for America) 1604519830
Meanwhile, in Maine--where Biden secured three of the state's four electoral votes but Republican Sen. Susan Collins also held onto her seat--Portland's minimum wage measure passed as part of a slate of five progressive proposals put on the ballot by People First Portland, a political action committee formed by the Southern Maine Democratic Socialists of America.
Four of those initiatives--the wage one plus a stronger ban facial surveillance technology, a Green New Deal for Portland, and rent control--were approved by voters, along with an unrelated referendum to get rid of a limit on local marijuana stores.
\u201cMinimum wage. Hazard Pay. Facial Surveillance Ban. Green New Deal. Rent Control. Portland says YES! We are proud to announce a victory for the working people who make up the core of our community.\u201d— People First Portland (@People First Portland) 1604471084
\u201cCongratulations to the voters of Portland, ME for passing referenda for a $15 minimum wage. \n\n#FightFor15\u201d— Fight For 15 (@Fight For 15) 1604471770
The Portland Press Heraldcalled the results "a forceful rebuke of the city's political establishment," pointing out that the People First Portland initiatives--including the unsuccessful one that would have further restricted short-term rentals--"were opposed by Mayor Kate Snyder, seven city councilors, local businesses, and affordable housing developers."
Unlike a 2015 minimum wage measure that failed in the city, this one "includes a provision that requires businesses to pay time and a half during a declared emergency," the newspaper noted. "That will give Portland the highest minimum wage in the country next month--$18 an hour--assuming city and state emergency declarations stemming from the coronavirus pandemic are still in effect."