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Fast food workers rallied in Los Angeles and Sacramento on Friday, Jan. 27 to urge employers to stop opposing a bill that promises higher wages and better working conditions for California’s 500,000 fast food workers. requested.
AB 257, also known as the FAST Recovery Act, was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 5th. But Save Local Restaurants, a coalition of fast-food franchisees and franchisors opposing the bill, collected enough signatures to hold a referendum in the 2024 ballot, enforcing the law until voters decide its outcome. I put it on hold.
The bill would create a 10-member national council to negotiate wages, hours, and working conditions for ununionized fast food workers in California. This year, more than 100 restaurants across the country would set a minimum wage of up to $22 an hour, with a cap on subsequent annual increases.
Fast food workers and supporters, including representatives of Fight for $15 and the Union, gathered Friday at the headquarters of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, which is staunchly opposed to AB 257. Lower consumer prices and lower operating costs for restaurants will result in job losses and fast food restaurant closures.
The Save Local Restaurants Coalition, led by the International Franchise Association, the National Restaurant Association and the American Chamber of Commerce, says it aims to “protect workers, small business owners and consumers from rising costs and further layoffs.” says.
“California residents are already suffering from the pressures of rising prices, and AB 257 will make it harder for them to live, work and own a business in the state,” the group said in a statement in September.
“I can barely do it”
Maisheka Ronquillo, who works at Carl’s Jr. in Long Beach, says she’s struggling to make ends meet.
“You have to give up all the little luxuries in life,” said the 40-year-old Los Angeles resident. “I make $15 an hour, but with health insurance, it’s $12 an hour. I need a living wage of at least $22 an hour. Rent and utilities just barely.”
An Oct. 15 report from the University of California, Berkeley Labor Center showed that people who work in fast food are more likely to live in or near poverty. One in five of her in families whose members work in fast food jobs have incomes below the poverty line, the study says.
AB 257 supporters also said the National Restaurant Association is using a mandatory $15 food safety class to fund a nationwide lobbying campaign to keep restaurant wages from rising. It quotes a New York Times article claiming that
ServSafe, the company they pay to deliver the classes, doubles as the fundraising arm of the National Restaurant Association, The Times said, and the training has brought about $25 million to the restaurant industry’s lobbying arm since 2010. He added that it resulted in
Another report from the UC Riverside School of Business found that AB 257 could increase fast food prices by as much as 30% and raise labor costs by 30% to 50%. Statewide, 28,000 to 46,000 jobs could be lost and 1,100 to 1,800 fast food restaurants could close, according to the report.
Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA, said his thoughts in a statement released earlier this week after the Office of the Secretary of State verified enough signatures to hold a referendum on the 2024 ballot. .
“There is no evidence to conclude that the FAST Act better serves workers’ needs,” Erlinger said. “More than a million Californians have taken notice and said they hope, using California’s 100-year-old referendum process, that the fate of this bill will be decided in a vote before it becomes a burden. I did.”
Ronquillo, who attended Friday’s rally at the LA Chamber of Commerce, said workers are united in their determination to see AB 257 enacted.
“This is for us to make noise, be heard and get our point across,” she said. “Who served you when we first entered the pandemic?” she said. Told. “Yeah. A lot of people rely on fast food.”
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