WorkforceThe SEIU has asked state officials to halt employers' drive for a referendum, saying they're cheating.
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The union credited with pushing California’s controversial fast-food wage bill into law has asked high-level state officials to halt an effort by quick-service employers to kill the measure via a ballot vote.
The California operations of Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, has accused an alliance of fast-food operators and their allies of lying to residents when soliciting signatures for a petition to let voters decide in 2024 if the Fast Act should take effect.
According to the union, professional signature-gatherers hired by the Save Local Restaurants alliance are wooing signers by telling them the petition beseeches the state to raise fast-food workers’ wages. The message to Californians, SEIU asserts, is that anyone who’d like to boost workers’ pay should get their pens in motion.
In fact, the union says in its formal complaints, Save Local Restaurants and its paid signature-gatherers are aiming to overturn a new wage-setting process that could raise fast-food workers’ pay to $22 an hour next year.
The SEIU said it has video evidence and written testimony to support its accusations. In complaints filed with the California attorney general and secretary of state, it asks the officials to investigate and potentially kill the Save Local Restaurants’ ballot drive.
The alliance responded, “This is another brazen attempt by the...
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