Tacoma Eyeing Worker’s Bill of Rights, $20 Minimum Wage

Depending on the actions of the Tacoma City Council, voters could be asked to approve or disapprove of a voters' Bill of Rights that would include a hefty minimum wage hike.

   The wage would go up significantly

Friday morning, (August 8) the council will hold a special meeting to determine if the measure will go on the ballot this fall.

  The plan is known as Measure 2, it would expand certain protections for workers and raise the wage to $20 per hour.

Union leaders support the plan, claiming they're "chasing" the cost-of-living increases. These include officials with the UFCW or United Food and Commercial Workers unions.

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However, opposition was recently voiced to the council from various business sources, including the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce. They believe many smaller businesses would not survive such a move.  If Measure 2 is pushed forward, it would be put, according to MyNorthwest.com, on a "future" ballot.

Numerous studies have examined the impact of the $20 minimum wage. The CATO Institute studied the effects of California's bump, which became law in September of 2023.  Their study indicates between September and June of 2024, 6,166 fast-food jobs went away, from the year-over-year September to September, that number was 9,600.

Sources say the total job loss may be as high as 19,300.

According to the Institute:

"California’s minimum wage law for fast-food workers is, like any such law, a price floor; it is a price control on labor. Employers and workers are not free to negotiate the wages they want; the government dictates the price. And this, as decades of evidence shows, puts people out of work."