Tomas Robles: Supporting AZ Healthy Working Families Initiative is ‘Personal’

(Featured Photo: Tomas Robles/azhealthyfamilies.org)

By: Cindy G. Castillo

Tomas Robles believes the AZ Healthy Working Families Initiative is a stepping-stone to improve the lives of an estimated one million Arizonans. Robles is currently chairman of the campaign, which looks to raise the state’s minimum wage from the current $8.05 an hour to $12 an hour by the year 2020. It would also increase the amount of paid sick days for up to five days a year.

“It’s a very personal issue [for me], because of where I grew up and seeing the struggle,” he explains, “but also because our families deserve to not have to worry which bill to pay at the end of the month, especially if they’re working. They should have the ability to cover all their basic needs.”

While working with Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), Robles saw firsthand many of the issues troubling our community, including education, economic equality, jobs, healthcare and many more. He also noticed how many families in our state grow up poor, “not for a lack of working hard, but because jobs don’t pay enough.” He says this is the main reason he believes in the AZ Healthy Working Families Initiative.

“Our families will be better off,” he said. And the efforts of supporters are already making strides, as a Superior Court recently ruled in favor of making the initiative part of the November ballot, allowing voters to decide on its future.

“I feel ecstatic!” he said. “It’s very exciting, so significant to be able to lead and work on an initiative that will change the lives of over a million people.”

The decision comes after major hurdles from opponents. The AZ Healthy Working Families Initiative submitted more than 270,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office for verification in July. Then, validity of these were contested by the Restaurant Association, which also targeted 168 signature circulators in an attempt to invalidate them.

The ruling by Judge Rogers puts the initiative back on track for voter approval.

In a released statement, Robles said Rogers’ decision “is a big victory for direct democracy and a step in the right direction for hardworking families in Arizona.”

Robles believes this initiative will go a long way in helping not only a family’s morale, but will also boost our state’s local economy in the long run.

Learn more about this initiative by visiting www.azhealthyfamilies.org