Ballot Measure 1: Alaskans vote on increasing the minimum wage and guaranteed sick leave

A ballot measure before Alaska voters seeks to increase the state’s minimum wage, provide guaranteed sick leave to most workers and ban employers from engaging in some activities that can dissuade unionizing

Alaskans have already previously adopted a 2014 ballot measure that raised the minimum wage at the time and pegged it to inflation. But the group behind this year’s measure says that the figure — this year at $11.73 per hour — hasn’t kept up with rising costs and must again be updated.

The measure on the November ballot would increase the minimum wage to $13 per hour in 2025, $14 per hour in 2026, and $15 per hour in 2027. Subsequent increases would be dependent on inflation.

Ballot measure 1 would also ensure most Alaska workers receive at least 40 hours of paid leave per year. Larger employers would be required to provide 56 hours. That leave could also be taken to care for a sick relative. Lastly, the measure would prohibit employers from punishing workers for declining to participate in political or religious meetings, which have been used in some cases to dissuade workers from unionizing.

[Ballot Measure 2: Alaskans will decide whether to repeal or retain open primaries and ranked choice voting]

The measure is backed by a broad coalition of Alaska labor leaders, chaired by Ed Flanagan, former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Labor under Gov. Tony Knowles. It is also backed by leaders of the Alaska AFL-CIO, the state’s largest labor organization, and by a coalition of more than 100 small businesses in the state.

Supporters of the measure say it will improve the well-being of Alaska workers and of the economy, by increasing productivity and reducing worker turnover. The wage increase would affect thousands of low-wage workers in Alaska. A $15 wage is still considered below a living wage for all Alaska adults, according to research from MIT.

States are increasingly turning to ballot initiatives to set minimum wage standards as the federal government has not updated the federal minimum wage since 2009, when it was set at $7.25.

Alaska’s ballot measure 1 is funded primarily by the Fairness Project, a Washington, D.C.-base organization that has already worked on several ballot measures in other states to raise minimum wages or guarantee paid time off, including in Washington, Arizona and California.

Supporters of the ballot measure have reported raising more than $2.6 million to back the initiative, in large part from the Fairness Project.

The Alaska Chamber and other organizations representing business interests said in September that they planned to oppose the initiative but not to actively campaign against it. Last month, they changed their approach, launching a campaign against the measure. That campaign group has so far reported raising $95,000 to back their opposition, almost entirely from the Alaska Chamber. Several Republican lawmakers have also come out in opposition to the measure.

Opponents say that the measure could lead to lawsuits over “broad definitions” included in the bill. They also say the mandatory sick leave could lead small businesses to increase their prices.

Guaranteed sick leave is already offered in more than a dozen states, including Washington, Oregon and California. More than 20 states currently have higher minimum wages than Alaska’s.