Tucson voters approve minimum wage hike

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TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) – The unofficial results represent a voting initiative that would gradually raise the minimum wage in the city of Tucson to $ 15 an hour.

According to the city’s unofficial election results, voters in Tucson voted proposal 206 with 60% in favor and 32% against. Some voters did not fill out the proposal on their ballot papers.

The city has yet to confirm the results before they are official.

RELATED: Tucson Minimum Wage Act: How Will It Affect Local Businesses?

The proposal would raise the minimum wage in Tucson to $ 15 an hour by 2025 and then tie it to the rate of inflation thereafter. The dates suggested in the proposal for wage increases are:

• $ 13.50 through January 1, 2023
• $ 14.25 through January 1, 2024
• $ 15.00 by January 1, 2025

The current minimum wage in Arizona is $ 12.15 after voters across the state approved a minimum wage increase in 2016. Back then, the minimum wage was just over $ 8 an hour.

COMPLETE VOTE RESULTS IN TUCSON

“We won,” said CJ Boyd, Tucson Fight for Fifteen.

The increase in the minimum wage is to take place over a period of three years. The first increase will come in April to $ 13 and not rise to $ 15 until 2025.

“First and foremost, we have tens of thousands of people getting a raise. That’s the biggest thing, of course, ”said Boyd.

Boyd and his team went door-to-door fighting for fifteen dollars before the vote. He says about a hundred local businesses and organizations participated in the wage increase.

“Whenever we raise the bottom – it really affects the whole community and we have people who are now over 15 who should expect the raises to go up too,” he said.

Not everyone supported the proposal, Carlos Ruiz, the owner of HT Metals, said it wasn’t good for business.

“I think it creates a barrier between my relationship with my employees and me as a business owner, and generally creates an anti-business climate in Tucson,” said Ruiz.

Approval of Prop 206 also means there will be a new Department of Labor Standards in the city of Tucson. It would monitor employee complaints and employer violations.

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