SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
A California bill that has pitted food workers against the franchisees and giant companies that employ them will face a key legislative test in the State Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday.
Assembly Bill 257, also known as the Fast Food Accountability and Recovery Act, would create a state council to negotiate on behalf of California’s more than half a million fast food workers. The bill would affect any food chain that has more than 30 establishments nationally.
Food workers say the change is needed
Supporters of the bill have said despite California’s already existing strict labor laws, fast food workers have been subject to low wages, wage theft and unsafe working conditions that put them at an increased risk of burns and other injuries. The bill is sponsored by California’s powerful labor group, Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
“For the past three years, I had been working without 10-minute breaks because I didn’t know we had the right to that,” said Maria Fernandez, a Sacramento-area Jack In The Box employee who said she has been working there for about five years.
She described difficulties working in the summertime among hot appliances coupled with a broken air conditioning system. She said the COVID-19 pandemic presented another set of concerning working conditions.
“When we found out the people were sick at work, the manager told us it was fine and to double mask and to keep working and to specifically not tell anybody,”...
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