New Orleans voters on Tuesday (Nov. 5) approved two new amendments to the city’s charter: one that will add a “workers’ bill of rights” and another that will require the city to set aside millions per year in a trust fund to pay for affordable housing projects.
The charter amendments passed with overwhelming support. Eighty percent of voters in the city backed the workers’ rights amendment, and 75% voted for the Housing Trust Fund amendment.
The success of the workers’ rights amendment was the culmination of a three-year campaign by local labor organizations and the city of New Orleans. It calls for fair wages and comprehensive benefits — including health care and family leave — and for safe workplaces in the city.
The bill of rights, however, is mostly symbolic. It will not require New Orleans employers to pay their workers better or offer new benefits. Supporters have framed it as a first step — a statement of values for the city.
Britain Forsyth, policy director at workers’ rights group Step Up Louisiana, said the decisive victory made a clear statement as to where residents of the city stand.
“What that tells me is that the voters of New Orleans very clearly stand for workers’ rights,” Forsyth said to a crowd of people assembled at the Broadside for an election night watch party hosted by Step Up Louisiana and the Water Collaborative. “This is a mandate for how workers need to be treated in our city.”
Going into Election Day, supporters were optimistic that a victory was imminent. A public opinion survey conducted by Red Cypress Consulting in mid-October showed strong support for the ballot initiative. Still, proponents of the ballot measure huddled together and nervously refreshed election results on Tuesday night inside a bar at the Broadside.
It became clear soon after the polls closed at 8 p.m. that the ballot measure would pass with overwhelming support. Organizers took the stage to celebrate their victory.
“It doesn’t stop here,” said Latasha Williams, the lead organizer of the campaign with Step Up. “We’re going to hit the state legislature, and then guess what? We’re going to hit the nation.”
The workers’ bill of rights was a coordinated effort between Step Up Louisiana, the New Orleans Health Department and Council President Helena Moreno. It’s part of a package of efforts – which also include a Healthy Workplace campaign and establishing a city workers’ commission – that they hope will improve workplaces across the city.
However, even with the new language in the city’s foundational law, the New Orleans City Council has virtually zero power to pass ordinances that would improve working conditions with private employers beyond what is already required in state and federal law.
So-called “state pre-emption laws” make it illegal for local governments to compel private employers to pay higher wages than the federal minimum wage – which is $7.25 and hasn’t been adjusted in 15 years – or offer a minimum number of sick days. Still, organizers behind the workers’ bill of rights say it was important for the city, which has high rates of poverty and a worsening affordability crisis, to clearly and firmly establish its pro-worker values in the charter rather than simply hoping the conservative state legislature will someday repeal those laws.
“We can’t wait for a silver bullet to deal with this crisis,” Forsyth said.
‘We need to do things differently’
Unlike the workers’ rights amendment, the Housing Trust Fund amendment will require the city to take specific next steps.
Starting in 2026, 2% of the city’s general funds – or about $15 to $20 million – will be dedicated to affordable housing efforts. Those efforts will preserving existing affordable housing, creating new affordable housing and promoting affordable home ownership.
The heavy support for the measure means that the city now has a strong mandate to prioritize affordable housing, said City Councilmember Lesli Harris, who championed the effort, said.
“It shows people understand that housing is unaffordable in New Orleans and that we need to do things differently,” Harris told Verite News. “I think the community turned out and showed by their vote that we need this and that we need to make sure that we’re reinvesting in New Orleans and keeping New Orleanians here in our city.”
The measure passed in spite of opposition from local good government think tank the Bureau of Governmental Research, which raised concern over formalizing the trust fund via city charter.
Along with affordable housing groups, such as HousingNOLA, the amendment received support from the developers involved in the River District neighborhood — which is now under construction near the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center — by way of the NOLA First Political Action Committee.
Though the ballot measure won’t take effect until 2026, Harris said the city council is running a “pilot” version of the program in 2025, allocating $17 million to affordable housing efforts, which will help them work out the administration of the trust fund.
The new Housing Trust Fund will be administered by Finance New Orleans, the city’s longstanding housing and development financing agency, and the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority. A seven-person advisory council – with members appointed by the Mayor’s Office, City Council and local affordable housing organizations – will decide how to allocate the funds.
Harris said that the public will be able to track how that money is spent through a public dashboard and can provide comment at three different public meetings throughout the year.
“We’re doing good things here locally,” Harris said. “People need to keep paying attention to local politics and the things that we can do locally in order to support our community.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article erroneously referred to the Bureau of Governmental Research as the “Bureau of Governmental Affairs.”