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Minimum wage wins show the power of organizing (and more feel-good news)
Minimum wage wins show the power of organizing
by Laura Clawson
Tuesday night was a bloodbath for Democratic politicians, but Democratic policies won some real victories at the state and local level. The minimum wage was the highest profile of those, and measures raising the minimum wage in four states and a pair of cities performed well, as expected:
Minimum wage initiatives also prevailed in San Francisco and Oakland, California.
These measures will bring in a wide range of new wages, from a low of $8.50 an hour in 2017 in Arkansas to San Francisco's high of $15 in 2018. And they will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers, starting on January 1 in most cases. This matters enormously—and it will be a much-needed balm to workers who may well be hurt, going forward, by larger numbers of elected Republicans legislating against them.
These measures are also a powerful reminder of the importance of organizing. When fast food workers first started organizing and striking, with a $15 an hour wage as one of their centerpiece demands, it sounded outlandish even if you knew that in some American cities it still wasn't a living wage. Now, two American cities have passed $15 an hour. Washington, DC, is on its way to $11.50. Massachusetts is on its way to $11. Vermont is on its way to $10.50. Hawaii, Connecticut, and Maryland are on their way to $10.10. California is on its way to $10. These are real advances that would not have happened without working people fighting, and making demands that establishment politicians would never make and the media couldn't quite believe were real. Too much of the country is still left at the poverty wage of $7.25, thanks to a Congress that has not acted and definitely will not act. But the momentum toward something better is real, and it's coming from the streets and the workplaces.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/05/1342067/-Minimum-wage-wins-show-the-power-of-organizing
by Laura Clawson
Tuesday night was a bloodbath for Democratic politicians, but Democratic policies won some real victories at the state and local level. The minimum wage was the highest profile of those, and measures raising the minimum wage in four states and a pair of cities performed well, as expected:
In Alaska, a minimum wage increase led in early returns, winning 69 percent of the vote with 28 percent of precincts reporting.
The wage increase won its biggest margin of victory in Arkansas, where it garnered 65 percent of the vote. In Nebraska, 59 percent of voters approved raising the minimum wage, while in South Dakota, the margin was 53 percent.
Minimum wage initiatives also prevailed in San Francisco and Oakland, California.
These measures will bring in a wide range of new wages, from a low of $8.50 an hour in 2017 in Arkansas to San Francisco's high of $15 in 2018. And they will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers, starting on January 1 in most cases. This matters enormously—and it will be a much-needed balm to workers who may well be hurt, going forward, by larger numbers of elected Republicans legislating against them.
These measures are also a powerful reminder of the importance of organizing. When fast food workers first started organizing and striking, with a $15 an hour wage as one of their centerpiece demands, it sounded outlandish even if you knew that in some American cities it still wasn't a living wage. Now, two American cities have passed $15 an hour. Washington, DC, is on its way to $11.50. Massachusetts is on its way to $11. Vermont is on its way to $10.50. Hawaii, Connecticut, and Maryland are on their way to $10.10. California is on its way to $10. These are real advances that would not have happened without working people fighting, and making demands that establishment politicians would never make and the media couldn't quite believe were real. Too much of the country is still left at the poverty wage of $7.25, thanks to a Congress that has not acted and definitely will not act. But the momentum toward something better is real, and it's coming from the streets and the workplaces.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/05/1342067/-Minimum-wage-wins-show-the-power-of-organizing
Voters are doing what pathetic politicians can't. This is real life.
Gun Control Advocates Score Two Big Wins In Washington State
Voters in Washington state passed one initiative and rejected another on Tuesday, delivering two big victories to supporters of tougher gun laws.
Roughly 60 percent of voters backed Initiative Measure 594, which will close the so-called "gun show loophole" with an expansion of criminal background checks.
A rival measure that was backed by pro-gun groups was defeated by a wide margin. Only 45 percent of voters gave their support to Initiative Measure 591, which would have barred the state from requiring background checks beyond the national standard. A little more than 55 percent voted against I-591.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/washington-state-gun-control-election
Voters in Washington state passed one initiative and rejected another on Tuesday, delivering two big victories to supporters of tougher gun laws.
Roughly 60 percent of voters backed Initiative Measure 594, which will close the so-called "gun show loophole" with an expansion of criminal background checks.
A rival measure that was backed by pro-gun groups was defeated by a wide margin. Only 45 percent of voters gave their support to Initiative Measure 591, which would have barred the state from requiring background checks beyond the national standard. A little more than 55 percent voted against I-591.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/washington-state-gun-control-election
Thing I'll post some feel-good news in this thread.
Even In Deep Red States, Voters Reject Radical ‘Personhood’ Measures
The radical “personhood” movement was dealt a significant blow on Tuesday night, when voters in North Dakota and Colorado resoundingly defeated two ballot initiatives that would have redefined life to extend legal protections to fertilized eggs.
In Colorado, Amendment 67 — which sought to update the state’s criminal code to define fetuses as children — failed by a large 64 percent to 36 percent margin. It marks the third time that Colorado voters have rejected personhood.
Meanwhile, in North Dakota, an effort to overhaul the state’s constitution to protect “the inalienable right to life of every human being at any stage of development” looked like it was poised to pass. Personhood proponents were hopeful that the conservative state would hand them their first major victory, galvanizing the push for similarly restrictive laws in other states. But Amendment 1 was defeated by similarly wide margins as the initiative in Colorado.
Reproductive rights advocates are celebrating the defeat of both measures as an important victory against personhood, a strategy that’s so radical that it has begun to divide the anti-choice community.
- more -
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/11/05/3589112/voters-reject-personhood/
The radical “personhood” movement was dealt a significant blow on Tuesday night, when voters in North Dakota and Colorado resoundingly defeated two ballot initiatives that would have redefined life to extend legal protections to fertilized eggs.
In Colorado, Amendment 67 — which sought to update the state’s criminal code to define fetuses as children — failed by a large 64 percent to 36 percent margin. It marks the third time that Colorado voters have rejected personhood.
Meanwhile, in North Dakota, an effort to overhaul the state’s constitution to protect “the inalienable right to life of every human being at any stage of development” looked like it was poised to pass. Personhood proponents were hopeful that the conservative state would hand them their first major victory, galvanizing the push for similarly restrictive laws in other states. But Amendment 1 was defeated by similarly wide margins as the initiative in Colorado.
Reproductive rights advocates are celebrating the defeat of both measures as an important victory against personhood, a strategy that’s so radical that it has begun to divide the anti-choice community.
- more -
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/11/05/3589112/voters-reject-personhood/
It Just Got A Little Easier For One Million Workers To Take Off Time When They’re Sick
Last night, four places in the United States voted over whether or not employers should be required to give paid sick leave to employees. All four approved the idea.
Massachusetts was the biggest win for paid sick leave advocates — the state is just the third in the nation to require employers grant people such paid time off, following California and Connecticut. The state was joined by three major municipalities: Trenton, NJ; Montclair, NJ; and Oakland, CA (though the state has a paid sick leave law, Oakland’s will expand on it). All told, the laws will impact more than one million workers.
These latest votes follow a recent uptick in guaranteed paid time off for the sick, which has found its way into law by any number of means, including ballot initiative, city ordinance, or legislation. At the end of last year, only one state and 6 cities had required paid sick leave. Now, the total is three states and 16 cities:
<...>
New Jersey in particular has been a beacon for paid sick leave initiatives, thanks to an organized campaign on the ground there. Organizers say they learned from New York City’s movement for paid sick leave, and have had success targeting not the state as a whole but rather progressive communities within it. “We agreed that it was going to be very difficult to get the governor to sign a statewide bill,” Phyllis Salowe-Kaye, the executive director of New Jersey Citizen Action, recounted to ThinkProgress’s Bryce Covert earlier this year. But “we had two quite progressive mayors in Jersey City and in Newark… We knew that they could institute it as an ordinance in their cities, as opposed to having to wait for a state bill.”
- more -
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/11/05/3589146/sick-leave-election-2014/
Last night, four places in the United States voted over whether or not employers should be required to give paid sick leave to employees. All four approved the idea.
Massachusetts was the biggest win for paid sick leave advocates — the state is just the third in the nation to require employers grant people such paid time off, following California and Connecticut. The state was joined by three major municipalities: Trenton, NJ; Montclair, NJ; and Oakland, CA (though the state has a paid sick leave law, Oakland’s will expand on it). All told, the laws will impact more than one million workers.
These latest votes follow a recent uptick in guaranteed paid time off for the sick, which has found its way into law by any number of means, including ballot initiative, city ordinance, or legislation. At the end of last year, only one state and 6 cities had required paid sick leave. Now, the total is three states and 16 cities:
<...>
New Jersey in particular has been a beacon for paid sick leave initiatives, thanks to an organized campaign on the ground there. Organizers say they learned from New York City’s movement for paid sick leave, and have had success targeting not the state as a whole but rather progressive communities within it. “We agreed that it was going to be very difficult to get the governor to sign a statewide bill,” Phyllis Salowe-Kaye, the executive director of New Jersey Citizen Action, recounted to ThinkProgress’s Bryce Covert earlier this year. But “we had two quite progressive mayors in Jersey City and in Newark… We knew that they could institute it as an ordinance in their cities, as opposed to having to wait for a state bill.”
- more -
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/11/05/3589146/sick-leave-election-2014/
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