Voters Put Wage and Hour Initiative on Track to Passage

“When you pay decent wages and provide paid time off, employees are healthier and more productive. This initiative will boost customer spending, reduce employee turnover, and help businesses, and communities thrive,” says Carey Fristoe, co-owner of Black Spruce Brewing Co. in Fairbanks. “I am honored to have been just one of over 130 businesses that supported this measure.”

Another one of those businesses is Kodiak Island Brewing. Owner Ben Millstien says, “The minimum wage has not kept up with the cost of living. The economy will improve when working people are not struggling for subsistence.”

Alaska now joins Missouri, which also just passed a wage and hour initiative, and fourteen other states and the District of Columbia that currently have a minimum wage of $15 or higher, or are phasing in such increases.

Keep Germs at Home

The sick leave provision applies to most private-sector employers. Currently, one in four Alaska workers are not able to earn paid sick leave. Through Ballot Measure 1, workers can now accrue up to seven days of paid sick leave if their company employs more than fifteen people; companies with less than fifteen employees must offer up to five days a year.

“Alaskans no longer have to make the impossible choice of making ends meet or staying home when they’re sick. The passage of Ballot Measure 1 alleviates some of the financial stress of being sick and creates a more supportive work environment,” says Representative Genevieve Mina, an initiative leader who won re-election on Tuesday to a second term in the legislature, representing Anchorage’s Airport Heights neighborhood.

“As a small business owner, I know that paying a living wage and providing sick leave is an investment that has paid off,” says Vered Mares, owner of The Writer’s Block Bookstore & Café in Anchorage and a member of the Alaska Business for Better Jobs coalition, which campaigned in favor of Ballot Measure 1. “It means I have a more dedicated and happier staff, elevated customer service, and more genuine connections our team builds with bookstore and café customers. Being sick is bad enough; it shouldn’t determine whether you can pay rent or risk spreading illness to coworkers or customers. And when the ballot measure provides needed pay increases for workers, that pay increase will go right back into Alaska’s economy.”

Ballot Measure 1 also forbids employers from requiring workers to attend political or religious non-work-affiliated meetings. The term “political matters” is defined as discussions of elections, candidates, legislation, and whether to join a labor organization. An employer that violates these prohibitions is liable for lost wages.

A coalition of business groups opposed to Ballot Measure 1 argued that the initiative infringes on the employer’s right to free speech. The coalition called Protect Our Small Businesses & Jobs was backed mainly by the Alaska Chamber, the Associated General Contractors of Alaska, and the Alaska Support Industry Alliance.

Costs and Benefits

The opponents pointed to an additional cost to the State of Alaska of $316,000 to hire two new investigators and an administrative assistant in the Wage and Hour section to enforce the new law. For an individual business, Sweet Caribou bakery in Anchorage estimated an additional $12,000 per month in operating costs for compliance and higher wages, even after cutting some part-time positions.

Other small businesses expect to adapt. Derrick Green, owner of Waffles and Whatnot in Anchorage and treasurer of the Alaska Black Chamber of Commerce, says, “More income circulating throughout our communities strengthens our customer base and our economy. And I know as a restaurant owner, it makes more sense to have better wages and low employee turnover than low wages and high turnover.”

Tim Hemme, owner of Alaska Kayak Company in Ketchikan, predicts that Alaskans will be better off once the initiative is phased in. “Ballot Measure 1’s passage will mean more people can afford necessities and be healthier,” Hemme says. “People will be able to purchase more goods and services in our local economies. Alaskans’ overall well-being will be improved alongside Alaska’s economy.”

The other initiative voters decided on Tuesday, Ballot Measure 2, would repeal part of a 2020 initiative that created the ranked-choice voting system. It appeared to be passing with 124,762 votes in favor to 120,059 against.

Turnout at the election was more than 41 percent of registered voters.