--- title: Workers’ Rights Gets a Boost in 2014 Midterms | TIME description: In a somewhat surprising development, four traditionally red states all passed minimum wage ballot initiatives, and Massachusetts passed a sick leave amendment. canonical: https://time.com/video/ZZdixpRt/ og:title: Workers’ Rights Gets a Boost in 2014 Midterms og:description: In a somewhat surprising development, four traditionally red states all passed minimum wage ballot initiatives, and Massachusetts passed a sick leave amendment. og:url: https://time.com/video/ZZdixpRt/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ZZdixpRt/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Workers’ Rights Gets a Boost in 2014 Midterms twitter:description: In a somewhat surprising development, four traditionally red states all passed minimum wage ballot initiatives, and Massachusetts passed a sick leave amendment. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ZZdixpRt/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Workers’ Rights Gets a Boost in 2014 Midterms > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Workers’ Rights Gets a Boost in 2014 Midterms [Watch (HLS stream): Workers’ Rights Gets a Boost in 2014 Midterms](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZZdixpRt.m3u8) (1:50)  _Published 2014-11-05. In a somewhat surprising development, four traditionally red states all passed minimum wage ballot initiatives, and Massachusetts passed a sick leave amendment._ --- Jul 27, 2023 5:28 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Know Right Now: Minimum Wage Raised In New York](/video/kN640bPU/) ### Know Right Now: Minimum Wage Raised In New York [What Else The Midterms Decided: Minimum Wage, Marijuana & Abortion](/video/CUludc6u/) ### What Else The Midterms Decided: Minimum Wage, Marijuana & Abortion [Massachusetts Set For Highest State Minimum Wage In U.S.](/video/nERDNV4E/) ### Massachusetts Set For Highest State Minimum Wage In U.S. --- ## Transcript Despite Tuesday's massive victories for the GOP, the ballot initiatives for workers rights are decidedly progressive. Voters in Arkansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Alaska, approved an increase in the minimum wage. In a somewhat surprising development four traditionally red states, all passed minimum wage ballot initiatives. And by a pretty healthy margin. They joined ten more states, plus D. C ., that have raised the minimum wage this year. And while some, like Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, have suggested raising the minimum wage can cause some jobs to disappear. You're encouraging labor substitution, that you're gonna go. By machines and automate things. Others like Politico counter, but a string of economic studies over the past two decades saw little or no employment impact when minimums were raised. San Francisco joined Seattle as the second city to raise the minimum wage to $ 15, the highest in the country. Though the initiative isn't set to go into effect until 2018. To go along with raises in minimum wage around the country. In Massachusetts voters approved question four the ballot measure requiring paid sick time for most employees when the law goes into effect next July. Massachusetts was the only state in the country to pass a paid sick leave initiative. If the amendment allows employees that work for companies that don't offer sick time to earn paid time off. Workers will receive one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked, and can use more than 40 hours of paid sick time per year. The state of Massachusetts joins two cities in New Jersey, Trenton and Montclair, and Oakland, California which passed similar initiatives locally. According to ThinkProgress, those pushing for paid sick leave in New Jersey. Have had success targeting not the state as a whole but rather progressive communities within it. President Obama has been pushing to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 10. 10 an hour for quite some time. 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