Better Jobs for Alaska (BJFA) was the committee supporting 2024 Measure 1, a ballot campaign to increase Alaska’s minimum wage and expand paid sick leave in the state. ^{1  2} The measure also prohibits most employers from making their employees attend meetings about “religious or political issues,” which was defined to include union organizing.  ¹

It was led and largely funded by the Fairness Project, a left-of-center organization created by SEIU United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU UHW) that uses state ballot initiatives to promote policies that are supported by labor unions.  ² It also received significant funding from the left-of-center “dark money” Sixteen Thirty Fund (1630 Fund) lobbying and advocacy organization.  ¹

Overview

Better Jobs for Alaska supported 2024 Measure 1, a successful 2024 campaign by labor unions to use a ballot initiative to raise Alaska’s minimum wage and expand paid sick leave after they were unable to do so through the legislative process.  ^{1  3}

The ballot measure, which voters approved 58 percent to 42 percent in the November 2024 election, increased Alaska’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by July 1, 2027, and required employers to allow workers to accrue between 56 and 40 hours of sick leave per year, depending on the size of the company.  ¹ At the time of the election, the state’s minimum wage was $11.73 per hour.  ¹

The measure also prohibited most employers from making their employees attend meetings about religious or political issues, which the measure defined as including “whether or not to join or support a religious, political, or labor organization.”  ¹

The Alaska Chamber of Commerce; local chambers of commerce in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau; and other business organizations opposed the ballot measure, which they criticized for vagueness and its potential negative impact on business viability. At the time, Alaska was one of seven states to require the same minimum wage for all employees, even those in tipped positions.  ⁴ They also criticized the measure for prohibiting employers from seeking doctors’ notes or other documentation from employees for less than four days of absence. ⁴

Connection to SEIU UHW

Better Jobs for Alaska was a campaign of the Fairness Project that was created and initially bankrolled by SEIU United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU UHW) to use state ballot initiatives to promote labor union-favored policies, especially in states with Republican legislative majorities or governors. ^{2  1}

The campaign was an example of the increasing use of state-level ballot campaigns by labor union-controlled committees to advance left-of-center policies that they are unable to achieve through legislation.  ⁵ This strategy has been championed by SEIU UHW president and Fairness Project founder Dave Regan, who has called state-level ballot measures “the best bargain in American politics.” ^{5  6}

It was also supported by the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, a clearinghouse and coordinator of state-level ballot measure campaigns intended to advance left-of-center social and policy priorities while blocking right-of-center efforts. ^{7  8}

Leadership

Better Jobs for Alaska’s chairman was Ed Flanagan, a former union official with the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) in Alaska who had served as the state’s commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development under former Gov. Tony Knowles (D). ⁹ His co-chairs were Tom Cashen and Jim Sampson, who had both served as state Commissioner of Labor under Democratic governors.  ⁹ Sampson was also a former president of the Alaska AFL-CIO.  ⁹

The campaign’s treasurer was Geoff Bacon, an organizer for the Alaska Public Employees Association who was the former president of the Fairbanks Central Labor Council.  ⁹

Finances

Better Jobs for Alaska, Inc. and its “Yes on 1 for Better Jobs” ballot committee reported a combined $2,488,031 in cash contributions and $153,752 in in-kind contributions to campaign finance regulators. ¹

The Fairness Project was the largest funder, accounting for $1,449,060, or 55 percent of total contributions.  ¹ The left-of-center “dark money” Sixteen Thirty Fund (1630 Fund) lobbying and advocacy organization contributed a reported $929,600 to the campaign, and the hotel, restaurant, and gaming industry labor union Unite Here contributed $50,000.  ¹

1. “Alaska Ballot Measure 1, Minimum Wage Increase and Paid Sick Leave Initiative (2024).” Ballotpedia. Accessed March 9, 2026. https://ballotpedia.org/Alaska_Ballot_Measure_1,_Minimum_Wage_Increase_and_Paid_Sick_Leave_Initiative_(2024).
2. “Better Jobs for Alaska Launches Ballot Measure Campaign to Increase Minimum Wage, Secure Paid Sick Leave, and Protect Workers’ Freedom.” The Fairness Project, January 9, 2024. https://thefairnessproject.org/blog/2024/01/09/better-jobs-for-alaska-launches-ballot-measure-campaign-to-increase-minimum-wage-secure-paid-sick-leave-and-protect-workers-freedom/.
3. Yelverton, Lex. “New Ballot Initiative Aims to Increase Alaska’s Minimum Wage and Require Paid Sick Leave.” https://www.alaskasnewssource.com, January 11, 2024. https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2024/01/11/new-ballot-initiative-aims-increase-alaskas-minimum-wage-require-paid-sick-leave/.
4. White, Ava. “Alaska Businesses Are Divided over a Ballot Measure That Would Raise Minimum Wage and Mandate Sick Leave.” Alaska Public Media, December 13, 2024. https://alaskapublic.org/news/2024-10-24/alaska-business-are-divided-over-a-ballot-measure-that-would-raise-minimum-wage-and-mandate-sick-leave.
5. Cadelago, Christopher. “Dave Regan, Key to Minimum Wage Fight, Divides Labor Family.” The Sacramento Bee, April 11, 2016. https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article70811307.html.
6. “SEIU-UHW West.” Ballotpedia. Accessed January 19, 2026. https://ballotpedia.org/SEIU-UHW_West.
7. “What We Do.” Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. Accessed March 9, 2026. https://ballot.org/what-we-do/.
8. “With a Stronger Economy on the Minds of Voters, Workers’ Rights Head to the Ballot.” Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, August 30, 2024. https://ballot.org/news/5883/.
9. “Raise Alaska’s Minimum Wage!” Juneauite, 2024. https://www.juneauite.com/raise/sponsors.html.