A new California bill could impact the wages of more than half a million fast food workers.
On Labor Day 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced he had signed the FAST Recovery Act (AB 257) into effect, which will establish a council to regulate wages and working conditions for employees in the fast food industry.
The new council will have the authority to set an industry-wide minimum wage as high as $22 per hour.
While labor union SEIU calls the bill “a significant victory in fast-food workers’ decade-long fight for fair pay and a voice on the job,” AB 257 faces well-funded opposition from major fast food chains and a handful of business associations.
The Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act, or the FAST Recovery Act (AB 257) was introduced as a response to reports of safety violations affecting fast food workers during the pandemic.
In one such incident, a McDonalds in Oakland, California settled a lawsuit from a group of employees who claimed they were forced to work during the pandemic and telling them to wear dog diapers and coffee filters as masks.
According to the bill, AB 257 is an effort to improve rights for the “largest and fastest growing group of low-wage workers in the state.”
“For years, the fast food sector has been rife with abuse, low pay, few benefits, and minimal job security, with California workers subject to high rates of employment violations, including wage theft, sexual harassment and discrimination,” the...
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