New York
CNN
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California voters will referendum It could overturn a landmark new state law that sets working conditions and a minimum wage of up to $22 an hour for fast food workers in the nation’s largest state.
Chipotle, Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, McDonald’s, In-N-Out Burger, KFC owner Yum! donated $1 million to save local restaurants Union against the law. Other large fast food companies, business groups, franchise owners, and many small restaurants have also spent millions of dollars criticizing and opposing the law.
This measure, known as the FAST method, signed last year It was scheduled to go into effect on January 1 by California Governor Gavin Newsom. California’s secretary of state announced on Tuesday that a petition to stop enforcing the law has gathered enough signatures to vote on the state’s 2024 general election ballot.
The high-profile initiative could transform California’s fast food industry and serve as a precursor to similar policies in other parts of the country, proponents and critics of the bill argued.
The law was the first in the United States to establish a 10-member Fast Food Council made up of workers, employers, and government representatives to oversee standards for workers in the state’s fast food industry. Approved the establishment of the association.
The council had the power to set sector-wide minimum standards for wages, health and safety protections, vacation policies and worker retaliation measures at more than 100 fast food restaurants nationwide.
Council could raise minimum wage in fast food industry to $22 an hour. The rest of the state has a minimum of $15.50. From there, that minimum rises annually based on inflation.
The California fast food industry employs over 550,000 people. Nearly 80 percent are people of color and about 65 percent are women, according to the International Service Workers Union, which supports the law. Fight for a $15 Move.
Proponents of the law, including unions and labor groups, see it as a groundbreaking model for improving wages and conditions for fast food workers and overcoming the obstacles that unionize workers in the industry. They argue that California’s success could lead other worker-friendly cities and states to adopt similar councils to regulate fast food and other service industries. Less than 4% of restaurant workers nationwide are unionized.
U.S. labor law is structured around unions organized and negotiated at individual stores or factories. This makes it nearly impossible to organize workers in fast food and retail chains with thousands of outlets.
California law would move the state closer to sectoral bargaining, a form of collective bargaining in which workers and employers negotiate wages and standards across industries.
Opponents of the law argue that it is a drastic measure with harmful effects. They say it unfairly targets the fast food industry and will raise prices and force companies to lay off workers. UC Riverside Economist Analysis As a result, we found that a 20% increase in restaurant employee compensation would increase restaurant prices by approximately 7%. The study also found that if a restaurant employee’s compensation increased by 60%, prices in limited-service restaurants jumped by up to 22%.
“This law imposes a food tax on consumers, takes away jobs and drives restaurants out of communities,” said the Save Local Restaurants coalition.
US President Joe Erlinger at McDonald’s Wednesday blown up As the law was driven by struggling unions leading to a “council of unelected political insiders rather than local business owners or their teams” who make major business decisions.
Opponents are looking to Uber, Lyft, and similar strategies to subvert gig companies. 2020 CALIFORNIA LAW Drivers had to be reclassified as employees instead of “independent contractors” who provided benefits such as minimum wage, overtime and paid sick leave.
In 2020, Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart and more spent over $200 million to convince California voters. PASS PROPOSITION 22a ballot measure exempting companies from reclassifying employees as employees.