Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

From today’s Sacramento Bee:

California would become the first state to establish a fast food council charged with setting pay and workplace standards for the entire industry under a bill the Legislature is poised to send to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Assembly Bill 257, also known as the FAST Act, passed the Senate on Wednesday in a 21-12 vote. Hours later the Assembly sent it to Newsom on a final 41-16 vote. The governor has not stated a position on the bill. But his Department of Finance released a report in June opposing the measure. The analysis cited significant ongoing costs and a “fragmented regulatory and legal environment for employers.”

Under the legislation, a 10-member council composed of workers, employers and government appointees would negotiate to set industry standards and pay. It would apply to any fast food chain with at least 100 locations nationwide and cap any minimum wage increase at $22 an hour next year. The council would be a first in America’s fast-food industry.

The bill grew out of a union movement to boost minimum wage and led to statewide demonstrations and protests by fast food workers over the last few months. Advocates say such wage theft and other exploitation is common in the industry, particularly for women and racial minorities who make up more than the state’s half-million fast food workers.

Read the complete story here.

By Editor