$20 minimum wage proposal will not appear on Tacoma’s February ballot
Tacoma residents will not be voting on a proposal to increase Tacoma’s minimum wage to $20 in February after a court order in a lawsuit over the measure.
The minimum-wage hike is part of a proposal for a “Worker’s Bill of Rights” that groups like the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 367, Tacoma For All and the Tacoma-Pierce County Democratic Socialists of America fought to put on the ballot this year. The measure seeks to increase protections for workers in Tacoma, but the City Council has expressed concerns about the implications the proposal could have on the city and its business community, saying that the city hasn’t had time to assess the impact it might have.
What ensued is a months-long legal battle between the organizations that put the measure forward and the city over when the measure should appear on the ballot or if it should appear on the ballot at all.
Tacoma’s minimum wage is the same as Washington state’s minimum wage, $16.66 an hour. If approved, a $20 minimum wage in Tacoma would bring the city closer to Seattle’s minimum wage, $20.76 an hour.
The measure was on track to appear on the ballot in a special election in February after a judge in September called for the county to do so, but the city appealed that decision. As a result, the Washington State Court of Appeals issued a stay of the judge’s decision as the appellate court reviews the case.
The city confirmed in a statement issued Nov. 19 that after the city and the plaintiffs in the case “mutually agreed” to a briefing schedule that will continue beyond the Feb. 10 special election, the measure will not appear on the February ballot.
Michael Hines, president of UFCW 367, said the organization would be pushing for the measure to appear on the November 2026 ballot, instead of the April 2026 special election.
“We are not stepping back, we are stepping forward smarter,” Hines said in a news release. “November 2026 is a high-turnout midterm election. That means more working-class voters will already be headed to the ballot box, and they’re the ones who understand exactly why these protections matter. If a delay puts us in a stronger position to win, then we’ll use every tool available to deliver that victory.”
After the Tacoma City Council voted to put the measure on the ballot instead of approving it directly in August, Mayor Victoria Woodards proposed a task force that would consist of union members, business owners and other Tacoma residents to suggest recommendations to improve Tacoma’s labor policies. The council’s approval of the task force also set aside $50,000 to support its work, but at a Nov. 18 council study session Woodards put forward a resolution calling for the project to be canceled. The council will officially vote on the resolution at its Dec. 2 meeting.
“With court decisions and a change in timing for labor standards to be considered during the February special election, there is no longer adequate time to appropriately establish and engage a task force on the topics of the initiative nor other labor standards before the end of the year,” Woodards’ request states.
Organizers had been working on a similar measure for the city of Olympia, which the Olympia City Council approved to put on the ballot for this year’s Nov. 4 general election. The measure is likely to fail with only 47.81% of the vote as of Nov. 19.
