International Franchise Association president and CEO argues franchise owners are better at identifying the needs of their employees.
Fast-food workers in California will see a nice increase in their paychecks beginning next year following the passage of a law signed Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom that increases the minimum wage to $20.
The new wage takes effect on April 1, 2024, and applies to workers at restaurants that have at least 60 locations nationwide, except those that make and sell their own bread.
Minimum wages for workers in other industry across the state stands at $15.50, among the highest minimum wage in the nation.
“This is a big deal,” Newsom said during an event in Los Angeles where he signed a fast food minimum wage bill, AB 1228, into law.
MCDONALD’S SAYS GOODBYE TO SELF-SERVE SODA
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs the fast food bill surrounded by fast-food workers at the SEIU Local 721 in Los Angeles, on Thursday. (AP Photo / AP Images)
He also dismissed popular views that fast food jobs are meant for teenagers just entering the workforce.
“That’s a romanticized version of a world that doesn’t exist,” Newsom said. “We have the opportunity to reward that contribution, reward that sacrifice and stabilize an industry.”
In exchange for higher pay, labor unions have dropped their attempt to make fast food corporations liable for the misdeeds of their independent franchise operators in California, an action that could have upended the business model on which the industry is based. The industry, meanwhile, has agreed to pull a referendum related to worker wages off the 2024 ballot.
Bojangles CEO Joe Armario and chief brand and marketing officer Jackie Woodward join ‘Fox & Friends First’ to discuss their initiative to lessen the pain at the pump for some of their customers.
Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union International, said the law capped 10 years of work — including 450 strikes across the state in the past two years.
The moment was almost too much for Anneisha Williams, who held back tears as she spoke during a news conference just before Newsom signed the bill. Williams, a mother of six — seven if you count her beloved dog — works at a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant in Inglewood.
Fast-food workers and union activists demonstrate outside the California State Capitol to rally support for legislation to increase hourly wages, Sept. 15, 2023, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/File/Fox News / AP Images)
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
“They’ve been with me on the picket line, and they’ve been marching with me as well,” Williams said of her children. “This is for them.”
California’s fast-food workers earn an average of $16.60 per hour, or just over $34,000 per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the California Poverty Measure for a family of four, a statistic calculated by the Public Policy Institute of California and the Stanford Center on Poverty and Equality that accounts for housing costs and publicly-funded benefits.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Credit: Source link
