Residents of Olympia, Washington, rejected Proposition 1 on Tuesday, with 4,857 votes against and 3,821 for. The proposition would have codified the Workers' Bill of Rights Initiative, which sought to increase the minimum wage and require employers to offer current employees extra hours before hiring additional ones.
Yes For Olympia Workers, a campaign that backed the measure, said that the Workers' Bill of Rights "is built on a foundation of key values that reflect the everyday challenges and aspirations of working people." Ostensibly to this end, Proposition 1 would have increased Olympia's minimum wage for large employers (those with more than 500 employees) from $16.66 per hour to $20 per hour on January 1, 2026. The minimum wage for medium employers—firms with more than 15 and up to 500 employees—would have increased to $18 on January 1, 2026, and by $1 every year until their minimum wage equals that of large employers.
