How a Fall River group played a role increasing the minimum wage to $15

Deb Fastino and friends sat down five years ago to ponder what would make Massachusetts a little more fair.

FALL RIVER — Deb Fastino and friends sat down five years ago to ponder what would make Massachusetts a little more fair.

A livable minimum wage, some protection from bad luck or bad health, job security for workers who get sick.

All of that, including an eventual $15 minimum wage, was signed into law on Thursday.

Fastino, executive director of the Coalition for Social Justice based in Fall River, played a major role.

“We started in 2013,” she said. “It really started because a bill we were pushing for earned sick time got stuck in the legislature for eight years.”

But Fastino and friends had a potent weapon: Voters in Massachusetts can initiate their own referenda.

Voters can put questions on the ballot if they present the secretary of state with a petition containing valid signatures of registered voters amounting to 3 percent of the number of votes cast in the last governor’s election. That number, this year, is 64,750.

They had done it before and they planned to do it again, Fastino said. Raise Up Massachusetts, a coalition of social activist agencies that includes the CSJ, were prepared to distribute petitions to get a state law on paid medical and family leave.

The CSJ consistently has been one of the agencies statewide to gather the most signatures for those workers’ rights petitions, Fastino said.

Sen. Jason Lewis and Rep. Paul Brodeur, co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development, decided to avoid that.

The legislators put together a 10-person panel last fall of activists, union representatives and business leaders. Fastino was a member of the panel. Their job was to reach a compromise that could become law.

The bill Governor Charlie Baker signed on Thursday was the result. It was called the “Grand Bargain.”

“It is the best in the country and it is our baby,” Fastino said.

The minimum wage will rise to $15 by 2023. It is $11 now.

The law requires employers to grant up to 12 weeks of paid family leave, 20 weeks of paid medical leave and up to 26 weeks per year if a worker is dealing with a medical problem caused by military service, either to the employee or a family member who is providing care.

Workers will receive up to 80 percent of their pay during those leaves, with a maximum benefit of $850 a week. The leave pay will be provided through an insurance program financed by payroll taxes paid by both employers and employees.

Financial officials estimate the new payroll tax will come to about $4.50 a week for most employees.

Business got two victories: The law requiring overtime pay for employees working on Sundays and holidays was eliminated. The state also agreed to two days of sales tax holidays per year.

The package will help families who run into bad luck or bad health, Fastino said.

“This is a major difference,” she said. “You can go bankrupt with one stumble.”

With this done, the sides are regrouping, Fastino said.

“What is next is something we have to determine,” she said. “We need to take a break. This has been a long campaign. We’ll reconvene this summer.

“There are still issues around.”

Email Kevin P. O’Connor at koconnor@heraldnews.com.