California will set new wage and working condition standards for fast-food restaurants under a bill signed into law this week by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Assembly Bill 257, which received strong pushback from fast-food companies and business groups, will establish a 10-member council to oversee the industry. The panel is also empowered to raise the hourly minimum wage for fast-food workers up to $22.
Union officials who supported California’s first-in-the-nation effort are now gearing up to push for similar legislation in other states.
“Fast-food leaders from states around the country came into California and helped with the movement-building that was happening for AB 257,’’ said Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, which represents close to 2 million workers around the nation. “I’m quite certain that those fast-food workers that have been in this decade-long fight with McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King are going to ask their legislators to propose legislation like 257 in their state.”
Speaking to reporters on Labor Day, shortly after Newsom announced that he had signed the bill, Henry declined to say what other states SEIU is targeting.
“We are in conversations in several other states but because we’re in the discussion stage, we aren’t in a position to announce where,’’ she said.
The California legislation has its roots in the “Fight for 15” movement, launched by labor activists about a decade ago to push the minimum wage to $15 an hour....
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