A sign outside of a McDonald’s restaurant in Midtown Anchorage, seen on Oct. 7, advertises openings for jobs that pay up to $16 an hour. Voters will decide the fate of a ballot measure that would set a $15-an-hour minimum wage by 2027 and mandate paid sick leave for workers. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska voters will weigh in on a ballot measure that would increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2027 and require that workers get paid for up to seven days that they are off sick.
To backers, Ballot Measure 1 is about fairness for workers and overall state economic vitality.
“Fair wages and benefits make our communities, economy, and state stronger,” says the website of the organization that is sponsoring the initiative and gathered petition signatures to get it on the ballot, Yes on 1 for Better Jobs .
But opponents in business groups warn that the measure, if passed, would bring dire consequences.
To Sarah Oates, CHARR’s president, the consequences of Ballot Measure 1 would be dire.