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Editedby
CristinaLindblad● The Sunshine State is called
a bellwether in the nationwide
campaign to boost hourly payFlorida and the
Fight for $15
Pressure on Congress to boost the federal wage
floor for the first time in 13 years is building after
voters in Republican-leaning Florida approved a
ballot initiative to raise the state’s minimum wage
to $15 an hour by 2026.
Seven states already have passed laws that will
eventually bring their minimum wage to $15, but
they’re ones including California and New York
that typically back Democrats and progressive
labor policies. That Floridians bypassed their
Republican-controlled legislature to enact the
new wage by constitutional amendment will be
impossible to ignore, says Chris Melody Fields
Figueredo, executive director of the progressive
BallotInitiativeStrategyCenterinWashington.
“If thereisa statethatwouldbekindofa
bellwether, itwouldbeFlorida becauseitis
thefirstSouthernstate,”saysSaigeDraeger,a
researchanalyst at the National Conference of State
Legislatures. “It would be the first major change in
wages that we’ve seen in the South.”
President-electJoeBidenwantstomorethan
double the federal minimum wage,currently $7.25 per hour, to $15, and is propos-
ing an indexing system that will allow increases
for lower-paid workers to keep up with those for
middle-income earners.
Carrying out the plan will be easier if Democrats
win both Senate seats up for election in Georgia
on Jan. 5, which would give each party 50 seats in
the chamber and allow Vice President-elect Kamala
Harris to break a tie vote. The GOP has tended to
block wage increases at the federal and state levels.
“Everyone who follows this recognizes that
the main obstacle to raising minimum wages is
Republicanlegislatures,”saysBenZipperer,an
economistattheEconomicPolicyInstitute,who’s
testifiedinCongressinsupportofliftingthefederal
minimum to $15.
In Florida, 51.2% of the electorate voted for
Trump, and 61% approved raising the state’s
$8.56-an-hour minimum wage in increments, until
it hits $15 in 2026. It “just goes to show that mini-
mum wages are something that even the most con-
servative and most liberal voters in the country
value,” Zipperer says.
Emmanuel Hunt earned $5.54 an hour, not
including tips, as a wheelchair attendant at Orlando
InternationalAirportbeforebeinglaidoffduring
the pandemic.Hesayshistake-homepaywasso
lowhecouldn’taffordtobringhischildren
from St. Lucia to live with him in
theU.S.
Elatedasheisbytheideaof
making $15 an hour, he worries
that the Florida Legislature will
try to pass a bill to weaken
the constitutional amend-
ment before it takes effect.
“This $15 amendment was
not about party, it was about
workers,” saysHunt, who’s
worked to organizehisworkplace
onbehalf oftheServiceEmployees
International Union.The union
hasbeen adriving force in the ILLUSTRATION BY 731Bloomberg Businessweek November 23, 2020