A Feb. 18 rally celebrating the California Labor Commissioner’s order for a McDonald’s franchise to rehire and compensate workers who went on strike for coronavirus protections was held on Feb. 18, 2021.
Lucy Nicholson | Reuters
This November, voters in at least three states will decide whether or not to raise their state-level minimum wages.
If history is any guide, the ballot measures in Alaska, Missouri and California are likely to pass, and lead to bigger paychecks for workers, said Sebastian Martinez Hickey, a state economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute.
“Since 2014, 12 states have passed minimum wage increases through ballot measures,” Martinez Hickey told CNBC.
In many states, he added, “a statewide ballot initiative is the only plausible pathway, because conservative legislatures have failed to raise the wage.”
Meanwhile, voters in Arizona will decide on a ballot measure that would lower the minimum wage for tipped workers.
Here’s what’s at stake for …