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Workers scored some wins in Tuesday's election, including in business-friendly red states like Texas, Nebraska, Missouri and Alaska. NPR's Andrea Hsu has more.
ANDREA HSU, BYLINE: With Measure 1 in Alaska, voters were asked to approve raising the state minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2027 - a $3 hike - and giving workers the right to earn paid sick leave. Joelle Hall, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO, who worked on the measure, says in Alaska, these are not partisan issues.
JOELLE HALL: I think Alaskans understand this is a very expensive place to live.
HSU: And, Hall says, people understand workers in the seafood industry, home health care and hospitality - they need to be able to take time off when they or a family member are sick.
HALL: I think everybody doesn't want their server to have the flu.
HSU: Now, the ballot measure also prohibits employers from forcing their workers to listen to their religious or political speech. And that includes arguments against unionizing.
HALL: It's an issue for the labor movement - that we have to give some workers some power.
HSU: Hall says it made sense to bundle all of these issues. Workers who earn minimum wage are likely to be the same ones who don't have paid sick time and who might be interested in unionizing. Now, elsewhere in the country, Missouri voters also approved a minimum wage hike and paid sick leave for workers. Nebraska voters said yes to paid sick leave. And in Sonoma County, California, and Travis County, Texas, voters approved tax hikes to help workers with another big issue - child care.
CATHY MCHORSE: It's really a transformational opportunity for our community.
HSU: Cathy McHorse is an early childhood consultant who led the push in Texas. The measure will create more subsidized slots so more low-income families can get care. She says the proposition had the support of all the local chambers of commerce, who recognized it's not just about helping families.
MCHORSE: We're also ensuring that more families can fully participate in the workforce and improve their economic self-sufficiency and security.
HSU: In a place where a year of child care can cost more than a year at the University of Texas at Austin, the measure had no organized opposition.
Andrea Hsu, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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