Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing series exploring the political issues facing restaurants and shaping the restaurant labor market. Interested in discussing restaurant politics? Email us at [email protected].
The last two years have brought dramatic changes to the restaurant labor market. A scarcity of workers drove up wages, sometimes faster than inflation, while high turnover indicated continual worker dissatisfaction. The result? Thousands ofrestaurant employees are trying to reshape the industry on their terms, sparking political activism in the space.
The Service Employees International Union is the muscle behind many of these campaigns, from California’s FAST Recovery Act — which would form a council to regulate fast food wages and working conditions — to organizing at Starbucks stores. At 1.9 million members, SEIU is likely the largest private sector union in the U.S. and Canada. The organization’s scale has been a powerful tool in changing restaurant labor dynamics across segments.
In 2020, delivery and rideshare companies spent hundreds of millions of dollars onProp 22 to defeat a California law (AB 5) backed by the SEIU, which classified gig workers as employees rather than independent contractors. As a similar referendum battle shapes up over California’s fast food labor council, which would be required under the FAST Recovery Act (AB 257), SEIU says workers are more fed up and more militant and voters are more likely to...
Over the last year, beyond traditional healthcare and federal procurement matters, the government has pursued federal False Claims Act (FCA) investigations and enforcement across high-risk areas, i...