[Alumni Update] Tomas Robles is leading the fight for a living wage in Arizona – and winning

Ready to Lead alumnus Tomas Robles (AZ ’17) is leading the fight for a living wage in Arizona. Thanks to his work, Arizonians will see another increase starting on Jan 1.

As executive director of Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), Tomas helped lead the campaign to successfully pass Proposition 206, an initiative that provides all workers with up to five days of earned sick time and incrementally raises the minimum wage to $12 by 2020. This law has helped an estimated 1 million workers achieve higher wages.

Starting on Jan 1, the minimum wage will rise from $10 to $10.50. This is the second increase that has come after the law’s passage. While opponents claimed this initiative would cause job losses, the statistics say otherwise. Arizona’s jobless rate fell from 5 percent to 4.5 percent in 2017.

“These tired and false predictions from the opposition, they need to be put away now,” Robles said. “It’s proven every time that if you put more money in the hands of residents here in Arizona, they’ll spend it. And that is what drives the economy.”

Full story here: http://kjzz.org/content/585548/arizona-minimum-wage-increases-again-2018