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Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Local Wage Proposals Fail in Midterms for Gig, Service Workers - Bloomberg Law

A set of local minimum wage proposals largely failed at ballot boxes Tuesday, as voters rejected industry-specific pay increases for health-care, hotel, gig, and service workers in California and Maine cities.

The California measures proposed to raise minimum wages in unusually industry-specific ways. A Portland, Maine, ballot measure would have raised the wage floor for all workers, while also extending the minimum wage to cover tipped workers and independent contractors.

The proposals faced vocal opposition from the industries that would be affected, including hospitals fighting the California measures and the restaurant industry along with rideshare and delivery app companies fighting the Maine proposal.

Inglewood City, Calif., was an exception to the election night trend of local ballot measures’ rejection. Voters there approved a proposal by a margin of 53.5% to 46.5% requiring private-sector hospitals and clinics to pay workers at least $25 an hour. A similar measure failed in nearby Duarte, Calif., where it was rejected by 64% of voters.

The measures are part of a broader union-backed push to raise health-care worker wages in California. Voters could consider similar ballot measures in future years in Downey, Long Beach, and Los Angeles, after each of those city councils approved a health-care worker ordinance but opponents blocked them...



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