Fellow union members,
Today, it was announced that Arizona’s minimum wage will be increasing by $0.50 on January 1, 2027. This is a huge win for our state, and for working people everywhere.
In 2016, Arizona voters supported the Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act (Prop. 206), which created a law that increases Arizona’s minimum wage based on annual inflation data as published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index (CPI). In the years since this law has passed, we have seen more and more workers be able to provide for themselves and for their families.
Before Prop. 206 became law, Arizona’s wage was nearly half of what it is today — a mere $8.05 an hour. Meanwhile, the national federal minimum wage has remained stagnant at $7.25 an hour for nearly two decades,due to partisan gridlock in Congress. With inflation continuing to rise year over year, it is difficult to imagine how much more Arizona’s working families would be struggling if this important initiative had not passed.
When Unions and community groups came together ten years ago to increase the state’s minimum wage, there was no way we could’ve predicted how bad the economy would be for working families in 2026. Thankfully, our coalition partners who drafted the initiative had the forethought to index our minimum wage to inflation so that workers may at least have a chance to keep up with the cost of living.
While today’s announcement is a win for workers statewide, we know all too well how rising costs are impacting our members. Rest assured, we will continue to use our collective power in every contract negotiations to ensure the strongest possible contracts. You deserve nothing less.
In solidarity,
Jim McLaughlin
President, UFCW Local 99
UFCW International Vice President
