Minimum-Wage Drive Dropped As Deadline Looms

Organized labor is pulling the plug on a last-minute campaign to get 20,000 signatures for the minimum-wage initiative.

After spending about $8,000 on signature collectors - or about $1 per name - the campaign is abandoning the initiative.

Coordinated campaign director Rob Johnson said the effort had gathered about 18,000 valid signatures, less than half of the 41,335 it would need by July 5.

Johnson said he was confident the effort would have secured the needed number. But with five initiative campaigns attempting to meet that deadline, it is feared Idaho’s 44 county clerks - who must certify the signatures of registered voters - would be unable to keep up with the workload.

“I absolutely know I could get 55,000 signatures by July 5,” he said. “I can’t get them through the counties by July 5. It’s math. It just doesn’t add up. We don’t have enough time left.”

Backers of the measure want to raise Idaho’s minimum hourly wage by $2 to $6.25 by 2000. The Idaho AFL-CIO had proposed the initiative, but had not been able to secure enough signatures through volunteer petition gatherers.

Other initiative campaigns include measures that would limit bear hunting, prohibit civil rights protections for gays, require legislative and congressional candidates to support federal term limits and repudiate Gov. Phil Batt’s nuclearwaste agreement with the federal government.

Earlier this month, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Walt Minnick had persuaded the campaign, which relied upon his contributors for the bulk of its funds - to help pay for signature collectors for the minimum-wage initiative.

Last week, the Idaho AFL-CIO refused to endorse Minnick in his bid to oust U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho.

Union members are unhappy with Minnick’s support of the right-towork law in 1986. Johnson said the campaign will pay collectors through Friday.