WorkforceA group with a voice on how union pensions are invested is pressing six publicly owned restaurant giants to accept and work within the Fast Act's new process for setting fast-food wages.
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A group representing the pension funds of several major labor unions is pressing six publicly owned restaurant powerhouses to participate in California’s new fast-food wage-setting process instead of trying to kill it.
SOC Investment Group wants the franchisors to seek seats on the new wage-setting council that will be formed under California’s new Fast Act unless a coalition of fast-food chains succeeds in overturning the law through a 2024 ballot initiative.
The law would allow the council to hike the state’s minimum wage for units of large fast-food chains to $22 an hour next year, roughly a 50% rise from the current floor. But if the coalition collects enough signatures by Dec. 4 to get a proposal to kill the law onto the 2024 state ballot, enforcement would be delayed until the voting is held.
Big restaurant chains have been donating millions of dollars to the signature drive.
Instead of taking that route, SOC said Friday, big chains should vie for the four seats on the 10-person council that have been reserved for employers. Two of those four positions will go to fast-food franchisees, and the other two will be given to quick-service franchisors.
Four of the 10 seats are earmarked for fast-food workers and their advocates. Two will be given to...
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