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The head of McDonald's U.S. on Wednesday publicly criticized a landmark California bill that would give the state more control over pay for fast-food workers, saying it unfairly targets big chains.
The remarks by Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald's U.S., come after the California state Senate earlier this week passed a bill that would give a 10-person council the authority to raise the industry's minimum wage to up to $22 an hour for chains with more than 100 locations nationally. California's current wage floor is $15.50 an hour. The council would also have the authority to establish safety conditions.
Proponents of the bill say it will empower fast-food workers and help solve industry problems such as unsafe working conditions and wage theft, which can include not paying employees for overtime. But the FAST Act faces strong opposition from the restaurant industry, which fears the impact on California restaurants and the example it sets for other states.
"It imposes higher costs on one type of restaurant, while sparing another. That's true even if those two restaurants have the same revenues and the same number of employees," Erlinger wrote in a letter posted to the company's site Wednesday.
A sign is posted in front of a McDonald's restaurant on April 28, 2022 in San Leandro, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
For example, Erlinger said a McDonald's franchisee with two locations would be subject to the bill, since it's part of a...
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