ALBUQUERQUE, NM — Honorable Judge Shannon Bacon threw out a challenge to the Albuquerque Minimum Wage Ordinance today, ruling that the results of the 2012 general election are final and cannot be challenged now.

“It’s astonishing and disheartening that business groups were trying to cut hard working New Mexicans’ wages by nearly $3,000 a year,” said Trae Buffin who is a member of OLÉ. “I’m overjoyed that the court agreed with the people and that the minimum wage is safe in Albuquerque.”

The ruling arose out of a lawsuit filed against the city by business lobbyists attempting to end minimum wage, which was overwhelmingly passed by voters in 2012, and to remove the earned sick days ordinance from the October 2017 ballot. Community organizations and voters who support the law intervened in the case to defend the ordinance.

The earned sick leave ballot initiative, if passed, would give workers the right to earn sick leave to recover from illness or care for ill family members. Local community organizations have been working to educate the public on the earned sick leave initiative since last summer, when over 24,000 voters in Albuquerque signed the petition in support of it.

Judge Bacon has not yet ruled on the earned sick days initiative, but indicated at the hearing that she would do so soon.

The Healthy Workforce ABQ Ordinance can be read online here: https://healthyworkforceabq.org/full-language-of-ordinance/