On July 25, Families for a Fair Wage turned in 200,000 signatures to the Colorado Secretary of State, more than double what is needed to place a minimum wage increase initiative on the November ballot. Western Colorado Congress members gathered over 1,000 of those signatures on the West Slope.
Minimum wage increase to $12 an hour
Initiative 101, which would raise Colorado’s minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020, now “appears to be a certainty for the November ballot.” The measure would bump the state’s minimum wage from $8.31 to $9.30 an hour at the start of 2017, followed by increases of 90 cents per year for the next three years.
According to the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, a living wage on the Western Slope ranges between $12 and $16 an hour.
WCC joined this effort because members think fair wages are a part of healthy and sustainable communities.
Take the pledge
This fall, WCC members plan to be out in the community, talking to voters about raising the wage, and asking voters to pledge to vote “YES” in November.
For more information, contact WCC organizer Rachel Zatterstrom.