Prop. 206 is the Foundation of the American Dream
To make the stronger Arizona we all want, we need strong families with a real opportunity to get ahead. That’s the very foundation of the American Dream.
The Healthy Working Families Initiative puts us on the right track. It gradually raises the minimum wage to $12 by 2020 and will create the opportunity for many workers to earn paid sick leave that is not available today.
Here’s why that matters. Today’s minimum wage of $8.05 an hour – or less than $17,000 a year for 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year – simply isn’t enough for a family to get by. Too many families in our state are often faced with the tragic choice of feeding their children or paying the bills. Setting a fair minimum wage – and making paid sick leave more widely available – can be a game-changer for Arizona workers and families.
It’s also good for our economy. Fairer wages will save many businesses time and money through better employee performance and retention. It also expands businesses’ customer base because when employees have more disposable income, they invest those dollars back into our economy. It’s no wonder that a growing coalition of Arizona businesses supports this initiative because they see the value for their workers and for their bottom lines.
Please join me and vote YES for the Arizona Healthy Working Families Initiative. It helps create the strong families and strong future Arizona deserves.
Greg Stanton
Mayor, City of Phoenix
Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families and Mayor Greg Stanton, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
In 2007, struck with an entrepreneurial bug and passion for coffee, I became the owner of Fair Trade Cafe, which now has two locations in downtown Phoenix. That’s when I saw that the American dream is out of reach for many others here in Arizona – in part, because of the policies that make it harder for families to stay afloat, let alone get ahead.
This November, we’ll have an opportunity to turn this around. I’m proud to support this initiative that will provide families in our state with two commonsense policies – a gradual increase in the minimum wage and a standard paid sick days policy. Paired together, these policies will ensure that more families can meet their basic needs and lead healthier lives.
Here in Arizona, a person paid the minimum wage will make only $17,000 a year. That’s simply not enough to get by in 2016.
Worst yet, almost half of Arizonans can’t earn paid sick days to care for themselves or an ill family member. Families are left with impossible choices – go to work sick and potentially infect others, or risk a portion of a much-needed paycheck.
As a mother of three, I know what it’s like to wake up in the morning to a coughing, sneezing, aching child. Life happens! And when it does, parents need to be able to care for their sick child without fear of losing their job.
I’m proud to pay all my employees a living wage, and I know many of my fellow small business owners in Arizona feel the same way. However, this should be the rule and not the exception. A statewide policy will ensure that our neighbors, our friends, and our children can provide for themselves and their family.
Stephanie Vasquez
Owner, Fair Trade Cafe
Stephanie Vasquez, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Healthy Working Families Initiative Will Strengthen Local Small Businesses
The Healthy Working Families Initiative strengthens families, builds local businesses, and bolsters our communities and our state. I am proud to support this essential campaign.
Since becoming involved in championing earned sick days, I have seen the benefits that these workforce protections afford Arizona families and business owners. These protections raise the quality of life in our community and make it a more desirable place to live, work, and run a business.
Changing Hands is a local Tempe business that best illustrates this story. A popular locally owned bookstore, Changing Hands competes against the online retailer giant Amazon. The bookstore provides earned sick days for its team members and pays hourly rates above minimum wage—because they know that paying a fair wage and offering workers time off when sick or in need to care for a family member actually help their business. Consequently, their staff is happy, healthy, and productive.
This booming local business attributes their success—and their ability to compete with Amazon—to attracting and retaining a top-notch team. Changing Hands’ staff turnover is low and retention is high, reducing costs related to hiring and training new employees.
Small, locally owned businesses are the backbone of Arizona’s economy. The Healthy Working Families Initiative will help local businesses and the people that work for them. You can only say YES to that, as so many businesses have.
Please stand with me and vote YES on the Arizona Healthy Working Families Initiative.
Lauren Kuby
Councilmember, City of Tempe
Lauren Kuby, Tempe
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Help Working Moms Pay Bills AND Put Food on the Table
As any mom knows, having a family comes with lots of decisions. Decisions about child care, which school to attend, what to make for dinner. It’s endless. One decision no parent should have to make is whether to put food on the dinner table or pay the mortgage and utility bill.
Startlingly, this is exactly the decision many hard working Arizonans have to make on a daily basis. The current minimum wage in Arizona is $8.05, which puts a family of four living barely above the poverty level. This is not good enough.
The Healthy Working Families Initiative provides a reasonable, gradual increase to Arizona’s minimum wage as well as providing earned sick days for workers.
This will impact over a million hard working people in our state. It will lift up hardworking Arizonans, building happy, healthy and strong families. And that’s good for our state.
Join me in supporting the Arizona Healthy Working Families Initiative on November 8th.
Katie Hobbs, Social Worker
Arizona Senate Minority Leader
Katie Hobbs, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Healthy Families Initiative Will Carry on the Legacy of Cesar Chavez and Helen Chavez
For years my grandparents, Cesar Chavez and the late Helen Chavez, proudly fought for treating America’s farm workers with dignity and respect. With her working the fields and taking care of the children and home, my grandfather fought passionately for a respectful and equitable society. The message resonated with thousands of workers and millions of Americans who eventually all came together, standing up for respectable working standards and a fair wage.
Today, half a century later, we continue to face the same issue of earning a fair wage. Families across the state are struggling to earn the bare minimum that is required for a healthy community. In addition, the lack of paid sick days forces desperate workers to work while ill, causing a great concern for public health, putting our children and elderly at risk.
The Arizona Healthy Working Families Initiative will increase our minimum wage to $10/hour in 2017 then gradually to $12 by 2020. The initiative will allow workers to earn up to five days of sick pay every year that can be used for their own health needs or to care for a sick child or family member.
I urge you to vote yes on the Healthy Families Initiative to create an economically strong state and create a sustainable Arizona where every worker and family can rise above a bare minimum.
Alejandro Chavez
Phoenix, AZ
Alejandro Chavez, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Flagstaff families will benefit from Healthy Families Initiative
In Arizona, we understand that a strong community starts with a healthy family that provides the economic stability for children to grow and become contributing members of society.
But today, too many hard working families simply can’t get ahead. They juggle multiple jobs while often earning less than $17,000 a year—an amount that a full time job pays at the current minimum wage rate. This is a starvation wage not only in Flagstaff where the cost of living is already sky-high but also in communities across the state. And many employees can’t get paid time off if they are sick or have to take care of a sick child. In fact, 45 percent of Arizonans—more than 934,000 people—don’t have access to earned paid sick days.
Earned sick days are a public health issue. People who work hard preparing and serving food or taking care of the elderly or children should be able to stay home when they are sick. When parents can’t afford to take time off to care for their sick children, children go to school, which makes it harder to learn, and easier to spread illness. Lack of access to paid sick leave drives our state’s productivity and economic output down and nobody benefits.
The Healthy Working Families Initiative will help a million hard working Arizonans by giving a reasonable, gradual increase to the minimum wage and providing 3-5 earned sick days a year. That’s good for Flagstaff and good for Arizona.
Join me in supporting our hard working Arizona families by voting for this vital Initiative. You’ll help our families and the entire state. Vote Yes on November 8th.
Eva Putzova, Flagstaff City Councilmember, Flagstaff
Home Care CEO Touts Healthy Wages for Healthy Workers
I am the founder, owner and CEO of Catalina In-Home Services and I support the Healthy Families Initiative because it’s good for business.
Having run my business for more than 35 years, I know how expensive and time-consuming it is to replace employees and train new ones. The Healthy Families Initiative will help businesses like mine to save time and money by improving staff retention and job performance.
From Day One in my business, I’ve paid above minimum wage to the entry-level direct care workers I employ. One of my longest-term goals has been to set professional standards for this work – and one cannot generate a professional approach to the work when paying workers the current minimum wage allowed by law. Daily, I see the impact low wages have on my employees’ lives when they work two or three jobs, struggling with the stress that comes with putting food on the table, raising children, and paying the rent.
When employees come to work rested and less stressed, they deliver better care, better customer service, and increased loyalty, which allows our company to grow. For dedicating their time, energy, empathy, and compassion to our clients, employees deserve higher wages, and the opportunity to be paid for sick days.
This initiative empowers my employees with the fairness of their compensation, and their increased capacity to raise healthy families. It also helps to level the playing field for all businesses like mine.
I support the Healthy Families Initiative. It assures that thousands of other businesses provide their employees what they deserve to earn. Hardworking women and men deserve no less than a living wage in the U.S.A.
Judy Clinco
Founder and CEO of Catalina In-Home Services, Inc.,
Tucson
Judy Clinco, Tucson
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Working Women Will Benefit Greatly From Prop. 206
The Arizona Healthy Working Families Initiative is vital in uplifting Arizona’s hard working families so that they may become economically stable, while not having to sacrifice their health. Families and individuals should not be forced to choose between going to work sick or missing out on a day’s worth of pay. Prop. 206 will gradually raise the minimum wage to $12 an hour while providing employees up to 3 or 5 days of earned sick leave.
The initiative will directly benefit over a million Arizonans, while also helping boost our economy. Among those most deeply affected by the Healthy Working Families Initiative are women, making up 70% of those who directly benefit from the initiative. Passing Prop. 206 will be one of many steps in establishing economic equality and stability for women across the state.
Prop. 206 goes beyond helping families succeed, but also empowers small businesses by helping them grow their customer base. As those million-plus Arizonans gain access to higher wages, they will in turn spend those dollars across the state economy driving up demand and customers for small businesses. Businesses will not lose money, but instead witness higher earnings and demand for their goods and services.
Please join me in voting yes on Prop. 206.
Steve Gallardo
Maricopa County Supervisor, District 5
Steve Gallardo, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Student Rallies for Wage Increase, Sick Day Relief
Growing up with parents who struggled to provide for our family has motivated me to work hard and build a better life for myself through education. I am looking forward to one day completing my college degree, becoming a productive member of society and helping others achieve their goals. But getting there has not been easy. As a full-time student living on my own, I have to find ways to pay for food and rent in between classes while carrying the worries of paying off my student loan debt into the future.
The truth of the matter is that the current minimum wage just isn’t enough to meet basic standards of living for Arizonans like me. Not having the option to earn sick days as I work and go to school also makes life challenging knowing that an emergency or health setback could suddenly diminish my ability to support myself on any given day. It could mean the loss of much-needed funds to pay for food, school, and bills; or even worse – losing my job altogether.
This is why I’m supporting the Healthy Families initiative to raise the minimum wage in Arizona to $12 by 2020 and guarantee earned sick days to all workers across the state. It will make a real difference to me and others who are working hard to improve our standard of living and lead healthy lives.
James Myers
College Student
Avondale, AZ
James Myers, Avondale
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Healthy Working Families Initiative is Good for My Small Business
As the founder and owner of Nunez and Associates, I know the value that employees bring to my business, and the importance of having a healthy economy. By paying fair wages and providing good benefits, I spend less time and resources filling vacancies and training new employees, and my current staff members are more willing to commit to the quality of my business.
By implementing a gradual increase to the minimum wage of $12 by 2020, the Healthy Working Families Initiative puts more money into people’s pockets allowing for them to spend those dollars back into our economy. With over a million Arizonans benefiting from Prop. 206, businesses will experience an increase in their customer base. People will be more likely to walk through the doors of local and small businesses willing and able to purchase their goods and services.
I urge you to join me and vote yes on Prop. 206, because it’s good for business.
Josh Nunez
Owner, Nunez and Associates
Phoenix
Josh Nunez, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Prop. 206 Will Help Working Families and Bring Economic Justice
I have spent my adult life working for economic justice for working families, as part of America’s labor movement and currently as executive director of Central Arizonans for a Sustainable Economy.
Central Arizonans for a Sustainable Economy is a movement of young people and working families committed to achieving economic, social and immigrants’ justice in Arizona. In our work we see too many families unable to make ends meet because of low wage levels and lack of basic benefits like earned sick leave. In fact, 45% of Arizonans do not have the ability to earn sick days that they can use to care for a sick child or family member.
The Healthy Working Families Initiative will allow employees to earn up to five days of sick pay each year, keeping sick children out of school and protecting public health. The initiative will also gradually increase the minimum wage to $12 by 2020, putting more dollars in the pockets of working families and circulating those dollars through our local economy.
While our Arizona economy has finally recovered from the bottom of the Great Recession, we still see that most of those benefits have gone to the top 1% and too little has gone to ordinary working families. Prop. 206 is a first step to rectify that imbalance and make sure regular working Arizonans are benefiting from our state’s growing economy. Please vote YES.
Brendan Walsh, Executive Director
Central Arizonans for a Sustainable Economy
Phoenix
Brendan Walsh, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
PAFCO Urges YES Vote For Healthy Working Families Initiative
At Protecting Arizona’s Family Coalition (PAFCO) we spend every day working toward a just and thriving Arizona where all people are valued equally and living to their potential. We believe that raising the state minimum wage and ensuring that all workers have the ability to earn time off brings us closer to realizing that vision.
A majority of minimum wage workers have families - and more and more of those families are struggling to put food on their tables and make ends meet. Furthermore, very few minimum wage positions offer the opportunity to earn time off. These circumstances make it almost impossible for many parents to stay home with a sick child or another family member.
Proposition 206 directly addresses these concerns by guaranteeing the opportunity to earn up to 5 sick days per year and raising the minimum wage to $10 per hour in 2017 and gradually to $12 by 2020.
This measure will strengthen families, restore the dignity of work and fuel growth for employers by increasing retention and reducing turnover.
For stronger communities and healthier families, vote “Yes” on Proposition 206.
Samuel Richard, Executive Director
Protecting Arizona’s Families Coalition
Samuel Richard, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Protecting Arizona’s Families Coalition”
Protecting Working Families
Representing some of Arizona’s hardest working families as a Tucson City Council member, I am entrusted to make thoughtful policy choices that best represent the values and ideals of our residents. Prop. 206 fits that bill.
Join me in supporting the Arizona Healthy Working Families initiative to raise the minimum wage across the state and provide Arizona workers with the opportunity to earn sick day relief. This important initiative is vital in helping hardworking Arizonans build stronger foundations for their families and communities and in boosting our local economy as workers earn more dollars to spend.
More than one million Arizonans will be affected by this initiative – 70 percent of them women. No one should have to choose between a paycheck and their health, and working moms should feel secure staying at home caring for a sick child or parent without worrying about losing their job or sacrificing their rent.
Guaranteeing Arizona residents a modest number of earned sick days and incrementally raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020 are reasonable steps to keep Arizonans on pace with the changing economic times.
Working families across our state deserve to be protected as much as the businesses they help to grow. Let’s grow Arizona together by voting yes on Prop. 206.
Regina Romero
Tucson City Council Member, Ward 1
Regina Romero, Tucson
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Our High School Students Will Benefit From Healthy Working Families Initiative
As a high school governing board member, securing the education and well-being of our students is my highest priority. Often times, situations at home interfere with our students’ ability to learn and make the best of their education. Too often our students become ill, thus forcing siblings to stay home to care for their brothers and sisters. Even more troubling are the students coming to school hungry because their families cannot make ends meet; even when their parents are working two or three jobs.
The Healthy Working Families initiative will strengthen families and our youth by gradually increasing the minimum wage to $12 by 2020 and allowing employees to earn 3-5 sick days per year. Our students won’t be forced to attend school sick, or miss school days to attend to their siblings, as their parents will be allowed to take the day off from work without setting them back financially.
Students will be better prepared and teachers able to focus on education, rather than worrying about sick or absent students. Voting YES on Prop. 206 is a vote for our students, families, and economy.
Ian Danley, Governing Board Member
Phoenix Union High School District
Ian Danley, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Keep Our Children Healthy by Supporting Prop. 206
Arizona has always been my home and my first love. I grew up here and was educated through its public school system, graduated from the University of Arizona and received my masters from Arizona State University, taught and served in its school system, raised a family, and now proudly serve as a state representative and President of the Phoenix Union High School Board. In all those roles, I have always supported families earning the opportunity to get an education so that they can achieve more.
Raising the minimum wage to $12/hour by 2020 and providing earned paid sick days will strengthen our families by allowing them to pursue and advance in strong educational opportunities without having to worry about whether or not they will have food on the table. Mothers will be able to buy their kindergartener a new backpack and will also have more money saved for her college fund. This, in turn, will create a new generation of educated, capable workers for businesses within our state which will foster more economic growth. In addition, when we allow breadwinners to earn up to five paid sick days they are able to stay home with their sick child or relative, strengthening our public health.
I hope you will join me in supporting the Arizona Healthy Working Families Initiative to help improve our educational opportunities and to create a safe, healthy Arizona.
Lela Alston
State Representative and School Board President
1700 W Washington Phoenix, AZ 85007
Lela Alston, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Restaurant Worker Serves Up Support for Wage Raise
As the sole breadwinner for my family, my part-time job at a fast-food restaurant just barely covers the basics – even when I pick up extra shifts.
An increase in the minimum wage to $12 dollars an hour and having access to earned sick days would be a tremendous help to me and my family. I would be able to take care of myself when I get sick and have at least one day to go to the doctor without worrying about losing a paycheck if I miss a day.
Often times I have to choose between buying groceries and sending my daughter to school on the bus. Having my daughter in school is very important to me. I don’t want her to have to end up working a minimum wage job like I am.
I feel badly that I don’t make enough money to be able to take care of my family and sometimes it seems like there are not enough hours in the day to even work.
This is why I am urging others to join me in voting yes on the Healthy Working Families Initiative – to help other families like mine build stronger foundations and move farther away from the poverty line.
Kathy Ortega,
Fast Food Crew Trainer
Tucson
Kathy Ortega, Tucson
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
All, Not Just Some, Retail Workers Deserve Better Wages and Ability to Earn Sick Days
The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 99 represents thousands of retail employees throughout Arizona, working with company owners to increase productivity through better working conditions and training.
One thing we all agree on is that good wages and basic benefits like earned sick days reduce employee turnover, increase employee commitment, and make for a healthier workplace.
The companies we work with understand this, paying a living wage and providing benefits like earned sick days. But many other companies, including convenience store chains and mini-marts, take a different tack, paying employees at or just above the minimum wage and docking paychecks if employees are sick or need to care for an ill family member.
The Healthy Working Families Initiative will help level the playing field by gradually raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020 and allowing employees to earn up to five days of sick time a year to care for ill family members.
Give Arizona’s economy a boost by voting YES on Prop. 206. It will create healthier, happier employees and put millions of dollars into our local economy.
Martín Hernandez
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 99
2401 N. Central Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Martín Hernandez, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Help Families Achieve the American Dream
My family story begins with my mother coming to the United States as a refugee in order to create a safer life for my siblings and me. She would quickly discover just how difficult that can be not only for immigrants, but for almost everyone not making a living wage. My mom is proud to be working at multiple minimum-wage jobs to provide for our family. But she and many other hard working families struggle to achieve their American Dream because they are always falling behind.
The Healthy Working Families Initiative allows for my family and thousands of others here in Arizona to actually have a platform for which to start off on. By gradually increasing the minimum wage to $12 by 2020, and providing earned sick days to employees, families can catch up on their bills, not have to make the difficult decision of buying groceries for the week, or paying rent.
I urge you to give our families the opportunity to attain their American Dream, and vote yes on Prop. 206.
Deqa Mohamed
Phoenix Student
Deqa Mohamed, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Arizona’s economy has not rebounded fully from the 2008 recession and there is no better stimulus to get us back on track than a healthy increase in the minimum wage.
The Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act will raise the minimum wage in Arizona to $10 an hour in 2017 and in steps to $12 an hour in 2020. This will lift current minimum wage earners out of the rut they now are in, earning a paltry $8.05 an hour.
At the higher, fairer wage levels working families can better afford to pay rents, buy groceries and clothes, and take care of their basic health needs. By so doing, they will be pumping additional money into our struggling economy, and we all will benefit.
The Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act also require employers to provide their workers with a reasonable amount of paid sick leave each year. Those toiling in medium and large businesses and industries will receive 40 hours of paid sick leave per year while workers in small operations will have 24 hours of paid sick leave each year.
The paid sick leave provisions are important for workers’ families to survive bouts of illness or debilitating injuries without suffering additional financial consequences. It also will encourage workers who are ill to stay at home and not jeopardize the health of others in their workplaces.
The Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act is an excellent economic stimulus for all Arizonans and lifts the hard-working folks at the bottom of our economy up to where they can provide for their families’ needs with less reliance on public assistance.
I’m voting YES for the Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act and I urge all my fellow Arizonans to do the same.
Richard Elías
Pima County District 5 Supervisor
Richard Elías, Tucson
Sponsored by “Elías For Supervisor”
All Mother Deserve to Provide for their Children
As a single mother of two children, our economic security relies solely on me. Being a minimum wage worker earning $8.05 an hour is not enough to provide for my children, even for myself. I work hard to provide for my family, and when unexpected expenditures occur, I am forced to make the difficult decisions that can set my us back.
Being a mother of 2 young children comes with its own demands and responsibilities. A sick child could become a severe situation for our household as I am forced to decide whether to send my sick child to school or call in from work, losing on a day’s worth of pay.
Families like mine deserve the opportunity to become economically stable. A gradual raise to the minimum wage of $12 by 2020 and providing employees with 3 to 5 earned sick days will be that opportunity Arizona’s families need.
The Healthy Working Families Initiative allows for families to attend to their sick loved ones and provide for them financially. Our families deserve to be healthier and have the opportunity to contribute to the state’s economy.
I look forward in providing for my family and giving my children the opportunity that they deserve. I urge you to vote Yes on Prop. 206.
Carmen Morales, Phoenix and Tomas Robles, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Earned Sick Leave Will Help 45 Percent of Arizona Families - Vote Yes!
As the U.S. Representative for Arizona’s Third Congressional District, I serve constituents all the way from Yuma to Tucson to the west side of Phoenix. I am fully aware of the economic struggles our Arizona families face every day.
As the son of a migrant farmworker, my family and I experienced economic hardships brought about by him working low-wage physically demanding jobs with few benefits. If he got sick or injured and couldn’t work, he didn’t get paid. That reality still exists for 45 percent of Arizona workers today who don’t have the ability to earn paid sick days.
It saddens me that today, we continue to see this occur to families across the state and that is why I strongly support a gradual increase in our state’s minimum wage, and the provision of earned sick days so breadwinners can take a few days off to care for ill children or family members. Families deserve to earn a living wage while not having to sacrifice their health in the process. A gradual increase of the minimum wage to $12 by 2020 and providing 3 to 5 earned sick days is what our families need – and deserve.
Prop. 206 won’t only benefit our low-wage laborers, but it will help local small businesses as well, who will see more dollars circulating in our communities. I am proud to support the Healthy Working Families Initiative because it’s good for business and the families of Arizona.
U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva
AZ District 3
Tucson
Raul Grijalva, Tucson
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Planned Parenthood Arizona Supports Healthy Working Families Initiative
For nearly a century, Planned Parenthood Arizona has stood for strong, healthy families and the empowerment of women. Our clinics support women, men and young people with sexual and reproductive health care, medically accurate education and prevention of sexually transmitted infections and diseases. Planned Parenthood recognizes that women won’t have full economic equality and empowerment until reproductive justice is a reality for all people.
Increasing Arizona’s minimum wage to $12/hour by 2020 and providing earned paid sick leave is a positive benefit to public health. Paid sick leave will also allow for parents to stay home with their children or family members when they’re sick, without having to worry about losing their job or walking away with a low paycheck. Without paid sick leave, workers are more likely to show up to work ill, contributing to 20% of all food related illnesses.
The Arizona Healthy Working Families Initiative will give minimum wage earners, most of whom are women, a much needed boost in incomes and health care options. Creating a healthy state will create a stable, reliable work force – good for both businesses and workers.
We hope you will join us in supporting Prop. 206, the Fair Wages & Healthy Families Act, to create a strong, robust Arizona in which all families can get ahead.
Kelley Dupps
Planned Parenthood Arizona
Kelley Dupps, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Healthy Working Families Initiative Is Supported by Small Businesses in West Phoenix
As your Arizona State Senator, and lifelong resident of the west valley, I work closely with our local small business community to strengthen the Arizona economy. What I hear from many local small business owners who want to pay a living wage and provide benefits to their employees is that they can’t compete with national chain businesses that are barely paying minimum wage and providing few, if any, benefits.
My community deserves better and the Healthy Working Families Initiative will level the playing field, gradually raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020 and allowing employees to earn 3-5 days of sick pay per year. Business owners I talk to say raising wages across the board and providing earned sick days will reduce employee turnover, create a more stable workforce, and put more money into the pockets of consumers who will spend those dollars locally and allow those small businesses to thrive.
Of course, the initiative will also be a great help to working families and individuals who experience economic struggles on an everyday basis. Hard-working families who put in an honest day’s work deserve a living wage that is enough to put food on the table for their families and the opportunity to earn paid sick days so they don’t have to choose between the health of their family and their job.
Join west Phoenix community leaders and small businesses in supporting Prop. 206 to help our economy and strengthen Arizona families.
Senator Martín J. Quezada
Legislative District #29
Maryvale, Glendale
Martín Quezada, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Healthy Families Initiative Supported by U.S. Marine Corps Combat Veteran
As a U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran, I have proudly served my country through three deployments to Iraq, defending and promoting the American way of life. Like many veterans, I found myself in perhaps the fiercest battle at home, where finding a job and integrating to civilian life once again was a struggle. I managed to find work, often low wage jobs or positions that I was overqualified for. I was fortunate enough to eventually be employed where my skills and education compensated me well. Unfortunately, many of my fellow veterans are stuck in a cycle of low paying jobs, fighting PTSD, homelessness, and tragically, suicide.
Veterans face the same struggles that other low-wage families face everyday. Having to work multiple jobs, getting fired or docked for missing work due to illness, unable to seek the treatment they need for fear of losing their job, being unable to stay home to care for a sick child or loved one. Gradually increasing the state’s minimum wage to $12 by 2020 and providing 3-5 earned sick days would have a wonderfully positive impact in the lives of many Arizona veterans.
Help us give over a million Arizonans the ability to pursue their American dream that I fought to defend and give our veterans the ability to make the best of the American Dream that they fought for. Vote YES on Prop 206.
Luis G Cardenas Camacho
US Marine Corps Combat Veteran
Goodyear
Luis Cardenas, Goodyear
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
The Construction Industry Benefits From Prop. 206
As the proud owner of Moe’s Concrete Construction, I strongly support the Healthy Working Families Initiative. I know just how important a healthy economy is for the construction industry. The economic recession that followed 2008 demonstrated this as our industry took a massive hit. Construction companies across the state shut their doors as home owners, entrepreneurs, and businesses stopped seeking the construction of new homes, retail, and office space.
In an economy where no one is willing to spend money, small business and their employees all struggle. The gradual increase to the minimum wage of $12 by 2020 and providing full time employees with 3 to 5 earned sick days is exactly what our employees and our small businesses need.
Prop. 206 encourages, and allows our workforce to spend their earned dollars right back into our economy facilitating business growth across the state. As businesses grow and our younger workforce seek to purchase their first home, the construction industry and my company flourish.
The Healthy Working Families Initiative is what our economy needs. I urge you to vote YES on Prop. 206.
Moe Romero
Owner, Moe’s Concrete Construction
Phoenix
Moe Romero, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Student Support for Higher Minimum Wage
As a university student, I have been very fortunate to receive support from my family while taking on jobs as a lifeguard and a part time server. But I have also witnessed countless peers and co-workers who have not been so fortunate. The experience of working as and with low wage workers has allowed me to truly see the many faces and lives that will be fundamentally changed by having both a minimum wage increase to $12 by 2020 and earned paid sick time.
The current minimum wage of $8.05 an hour is one that has forced my less fortunate peers and co-workers to choose between investing in an education with the promise of crushing debt, or working a full time low wage job to provide for themselves and their families with little hope of building a savings. Without the guarantee of earned paid sick time, some of my past co-workers have had choose between missing a paycheck and caring for themselves or a loved one.
For me, passing this proposition would mean knowing my friends, peers, neighbors and co-workers all have the means to begin to better themselves and their families. It’s knowing that nobody, regardless of their background, will have to choose between eating and taking sick time. This proposition is good for Arizona not only because it will improve the quality of life for over 1 million Arizonans but also because it demonstrates that we as a state are willing to set a higher standard and declare that everyone deserves to live with dignity.
Simon Brick
University Student
Tucson
Simon Brick, Tucson
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Healthy Families Initiative is Next Step in Improving Lives of AZ Children
I’ve been a pediatrician in Tucson for over 30 years, specializing in working with adolescents and children with chronic illnesses. I’ve also been a strong advocate for Arizona children, working to improve the state’s health care system by expanding AHCCCS and reinstating KidsCare and on efforts to reduce smoking, particularly among teens.
Today many people would say chronic poverty among low-wage workers may be our biggest threat to public health. Single moms work 2 or 3 minimum wage jobs in order to make ends meet. Children go to school sick because their parents or caretakers don’t have paid sick days and can’t afford to miss a day of work.
This year, we can change that picture. Gradually raising the minimum wage to $12/hour will create more opportunities for nearly 800,000 Arizonans. Because most of these workers are primary breadwinners, these families, many of whom include children, will get a major boost. And earned sick days mean public health gets protected because parents can stay home to care for sick children or other relatives.
The state gains because low-wage workers will have more money to spend, increasing economic activity and the overall number of jobs. Increasing the minimum wage will also save taxpayer dollars, as fewer families need to rely on public assistance programs.
It’s been 10 years since we’ve had a significant increase in the minimum wage. Since then we’ve seen the top 1% do very well, while the middle class has languished. Now it’s time for common-sense increases in wage levels and benefits. It’s good for our children, good for our economy, and will help to correct our growing income inequality.
Dr. Eve Shapiro, Pediatrician
Tucson
Eve Shapiro, Tucson
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Arizona’s Working Families Will Benefit From Healthy Families Initiative
I began my career as an educator and am now privileged to serve as a state legislator in the South Mountain and Laveen areas of Phoenix. I see too many families struggling every day with poverty, working two or three minimum wage jobs just to make ends meet. That leads to cascading crises, where parents have to choose between sending sick children to school, asking older children to stay home to care for their ill siblings, or missing work which leads to smaller paychecks or getting fired.
Almost half of all Arizonans currently in the workforce do NOT have the opportunity to earn sick days they can use to care for a sick child or other family member. Almost one million Arizonans earn at or just barely above the current minimum wage of $8.05/hour and would be the first to benefit from an increase to $10 next year.
Prop. 206 can make all the difference in the world to those hundreds of thousands of Arizonans living on the edge of poverty despite working at one, two or even three jobs. It’s what our children and families need. We want our families to be able to provide for their children, so that they can attain a high quality education. This is bigger than raising the minimum wage and providing earned sick days, it is an investment in working families, our children and our future.
State Rep. Reginald Bolding Jr.
South Phoenix and Laveen
Laveen, AZ 85339
Reginald Bolding Jr., Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Arizona Advocacy Network Supports Healthy Working Family Initiative
If you believe that anyone who works hard full-time should not have to live in poverty, then you should vote “YES” on Proposition 206. Did you know that right now many Arizonans working for minimum wage make less than $330 a week (that’s less than $17,000 a year)? Minimum wage workers cannot easily support a family or live independently on this kind of income. Furthermore, many Arizonans receive zero earned sick days. When workers are forced to go to work sick or send their kids to school sick, because they could lose their jobs for staying home, it puts us all at risk.
This November, voters have the opportunity to improve the lives of over one million Arizonans by voting “YES” on Proposition 206. Proposition 206 gradually raises the minimum wage over the next few years and allows workers to earn paid sick days. Proposition 206 is a critical step in empowering Arizona’s families to lead more financially stable and enriched lives.
Proposition 206 has far-reaching benefits. Research shows that raising the minimum wage gradually is good for the economy. When low-wage earners have more income, they spend it, which boosts the economy. Proposition 206 will increase economic activity and grow the middle class.
At Arizona Advocacy Network we work hard to promote and protect the political rights of all Arizonans. Civic engagement requires the capacity to be involved, and that is why we are proud to support Proposition 206. This citizen-led initiative reflects American values that benefit all of us and our economy. Please use your political power as an Arizona voter to invigorate our communities by voting “YES” on Prop. 206.
Samantha Pstross
Executive Director of the Arizona Advocacy Network
Samantha Pstross, Tempe
Sponsored by “Arizona Advocacy Network”
Healthy Working Families Initiative Strengthens Our Economy
I have run International Printing, a small local family owned print shop in downtown Phoenix, for 19 years. As any small business has, we have experienced highs and lows and ups and downs. The recession was hard for everybody, and our rapidly changing technological world makes it hard for small businesses to stay ahead of the curve to ensure they remain competitive for their customers.
Through all of this, what has kept us alive and thriving is knowing that people are our most important resource. We rely on our passionate and committed team to come to work every day wanting to deliver excellence for our customers, and so we invest in them.
The Healthy Working Families Initiative would increase minimum wages and provide earned sick days for workers. I can tell you personally that workers making a living wage with the flexibility to care for themselves or their family when they need to make stronger businesses. This is not only the right thing to do for Arizona families, but it’s good for business too.
Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and so I support anything that makes things better for them. This is why I am supporting the Healthy Working Families Initiative. I hope you will join me.
Chad Weeks
General Partner, International Printing Company
Chad Weeks, Phoenix and Tomas Robles, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Prop. 206 Makes Sense for Working Women
During my first term on the Phoenix City Council, I’ve made it a special point to focus on issues that affect women, particularly that of pay equity.
We’ve all heard the statistic that women earn about 78% of men, on average. We also know that in Arizona, a majority of those working at minimum wage or barely above are women. While some stereotype low-wage workers as teenagers on summer vacation, the reality is that many low-wage workers are women with children, and their minimum wage salary is what puts food on the table for their families.
We could also go a long way in making other workplace policies more family friendly. 45 percent of all Arizonans don’t have access to earned sick days. When a child is sick, or an elderly relative needs to get to a doctor’s appointment, it’s often working women who must take a day off without pay to care for her relatives.
We can begin to change this on November 8 by voting YES on Prop 206. Prop 206 will allow employees to earn 3-5 sick days per year, so working moms don’t have to choose between caring for a sick child or losing a day’s pay.
The initiative also allows those earned sick days to be used by survivors of domestic violence for activities related to their abuse, for example attending a court hearing, meeting a counselor, or filling out police reports.
For years we’ve talked about making the workplace fair for working women, but we haven’t done a lot about it. We have a chance to do something on November 8: Vote YES on Prop 206.
Kate Gallego
Phoenix Vice Mayor
Kate Gallego, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Congressman Gallego Says “Vote Yes” on Healthy Families Initiative
Many of my constituents in Arizona’s Seventh Congressional District continue to struggle with chronic poverty due to the simple fact that many of them cannot make ends meet. Family breadwinners are stuck in low-wage jobs with minimal benefits, and they are forced to take unpaid time off when their children get sick or they fall ill themselves.
The Healthy Working Families Initiative will gradually raise the state’s minimum wage to $12/hour by 2020 and allow employees to earn 3-5 days of sick pay per year. This will directly benefit families who often face economic hardships working low wage jobs and being forced to chose between going into work sick or missing out on a day’s worth of pay. Families will be able to rise above the bare minimum and get ahead while businesses will have a healthier and more committed workforce.
I hope you join me in voting Yes for the Healthy Families Initiative in order to strengthen our communities and encourage a prosperous economy.
Rep. Ruben Gallego
Congressman, AZ District 7
Congressman Ruben Gallego, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Middle Class Will Benefit From Higher Wages and Earned Sick Pay
Bringing additional jobs into Arizona is something that everyone can agree is vital to our economy. But if we are creating jobs that do not provide sustainable means to live and provide for one’s family, then these jobs are useless. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is made up of middle-class Arizonans who understand that we can’t grow our economy on the basis of minimum wage jobs.
Under the current minimum wage of $8.05 an hour, a single parent working 40 hours a week will only earn $17,000 a year to support their family. These meager earnings barely allow citizens to pay their bills, let alone put food on the table. We have almost 800,000 Arizonans earning at or barely above the current minimum wage. That is not a path to the middle class.
And almost 45 percent of Arizonans are unable to earn paid sick days to care for an ill child or family member! That means a huge chunk of the middle class has to choose between missing a paycheck or protecting their own health or the health of their family if they get sick.
The Arizona Healthy Working Families Initiative will make a real, sustainable difference in the lives of our middle-class Arizona families and our communities. With a gradual increase in the minimum wage to $12/hour by 2020, our hard working individuals and families will earn the living wages they desperately deserve.
And with more money to spend, more money will be circulated in our state economy, allowing not only our families - but our entire state - to thrive. Join us as we vote yes on Prop 206 to support our middle-class Arizona families, and allow our state economy to thrive.
Marshall Pimentel
AFSCME Local 2384
Phoenix
Marshall Pimentel, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Wage Increase helps our Children
I started my career working with at-risk youth at South Mountain Community College, and now serve on the Phoenix City Council and the Phoenix Union High School District Board. I understand that our children are a product of our overall economic environment. If we want our students to succeed, we must focus on strengthening our economy to create that environment for success.
Unfortunately, parents who earn the current minimum wage barely make enough to provide nutritious food to their family, leaving many children to go to school hungry and without the fuel that they need to learn and grow. Often times, parents can’t even afford to take time off of work to care for a sick child, instead sending them to school unwell - which poses a health risk to everyone else.
Developing a sustainable solution to improve the health and well-being of our community is vital. That is why the Healthy Working Families Initiative has my full support. More than 1 million working individuals in Arizona will reap the benefits of earned sick days and an increase in minimum wage, allowing them to care for what matters most: Their individual health and the well-being of their family. As our Arizona families thrive, our communities and economy will too.
Vote for a sustainable solution to allow our state, employees and children to thrive and vote YES on the Arizona Healthy Families Initiative.
Laura Pastor
Phoenix Councilwoman, District 4
Laura Pastor, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Faith Across Arizona Come Together to Support Prop. 206
Arizona Faith Network is an interfaith organization made up of partners from Christian Denominations, Jewish, Muslim, Unitarian universalist and other faith traditions and organizations. We devote our mission to bringing together people of faith, under the inspiration of God, as a bridge to understanding and action. Many faith traditions lift up the inherent worth of all God’s people. Work contributes to the dignity and worth of a person. Furthermore, workers rely on the fruits of their labor to provide the materials needed for daily life. It is well known that the current minimum wage leaves many families in poverty and hardworking people in our synagogues, mosques and churches are struggling to survive. We support the Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families Initiative because as people of different faiths, we believe that it is our moral obligation to ensure all individuals who work to support their families are guaranteed wages that allow them to put healthy food on the table, a roof over their heads and prepare for their children’s future. When millions of workers labor day-in and day-out and still can’t afford basic necessities, it is our obligation as people of faith to purpose change that allows all families to thrive. No matter what job is held, all jobs should provide the means for a decent living. We believe that this initiative will help ensure that workers will be paid fairly and that their dignity is upheld while creating sustainable jobs that will help all to live healthy lives.
Rev. Erin Tamayo
Executive Director, Arizona Faith Network
Erin Tamayo, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Employees will be Healthier, Happier and Financially Stable
I support the Healthy Working Families initiative because it is what I believe is right and just for not only my employees, but all low wage workers. As owner of La 15 Y Salsa’s, I have demonstrated that by paying my workers a justifiable wage above the minimum wage and/or provide earned sick days, my employees are healthier, happier and are able to become financially stable.
I have been in business for 3 years and have experience first-hand that by paying my employees a living wage, the costs of turnover and training new employees significantly dropped. My employees are highly motivated and enjoy working for my business.
I can vouch for the initiative in that it does not harm small businesses, but increases their customer base by allowing for more people to have the ability to spend more dollars into the economy. My employees have been empowered by the wages and sick days we offer. They are able to go out and spend enjoy dinner nights at restaurants, shop at boutiques, and catch a movie far more often than workers who
Elizabeth Hernandez
Owner of La 15 y Salsas
Elizabeth Hernandez, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Healthy Working Families Initiative is Good For Small Business
I support the Healthy Working Families Initiative because I believe it is right and just for our communities. I believe that increasing the minimum wage will have a positive internal impact for working families and their children and an external impact to those communities in which these families reside.
As the owner of JJ Group Enterprise, I would also see a direct impact on my small business customers by the fact that the families will have more disposable income to purchase from their businesses. I have also seen first hand the positive impact of paying my employees livable wages in my business.
Jorge Garcia
Owner of JJ Group Enterprise
Jorge Garcia, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”
Prop. 206 Empowers Our Families in Need of Support
Our families need support. As a representative I understand that many of our communities are often faced with difficult decisions regarding the health and welfare of their families. I see hard working Arizonans face the difficulty of balancing both as a result of their inability to concentrate on issues that do not involve their place of employment or their obligations to their job. These workers will experience a sick child, personal illness or other family emergencies that require their attention but cannot leave work out of the fear of being terminated. I see the worker, who works tirelessly in an effort to provide a living for both themselves and their families. Though an Arizonan works full-time, they still do not have the means to at times, afford even the most basic of needs
This is why I fully support the Arizona Fair Wages and Healthy Families campaign to raise the minimum wage and provide earned sick days for every worker in the state of Arizona. I feel it is time to support our working families and publicly endorse this campaign as a way to do just that. I submit to you my letter endorsing the Arizona Healthy Families campaign, as we strive to provide a better Arizona for all our residents.
Diego Espinoza
Arizona State Representative, LD 19
Diego Espinoza, Phoenix
Sponsored by “Arizonans for Fair Wages and Healthy Families”