California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law to establish a “Fast Food Council”, whose purpose is to set standards for working conditions such as wages and working hours for industry workers in the country | The minimum wage for fast food workers will be $22 an hour
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law to establish a “fast food council” whose purpose is to set standards for working conditions such as wages and working hours for industry workers in the state, the new law states that in chains with at least 100 branches in the US, it will be able to raise the minimum wage – which will spur the workers in the field.
According to the report in “Calcalist”, the new law states that the council will be able to raise the minimum wage for employees up to $22 per hour, while the minimum wage in the country for businesses with over 26 employees is $15 per hour. The new standard will apply to chains with at least 100 branches across the US.
Mr. Newsom stated that “this action gives the hardworking workers of the fast food industry a stronger voice and influence in setting fair wages and health and safety regulations throughout the industry.”
At the same time, “Calcalist” points out that the restaurant industry has already expressed opposition to the law. Last week, McDonald’s USA President Joe Erlinger called the law “one-sided, hypocritical and full of failures.” According to him, the creation of the council “will hurt everyone” because the new regulations will only apply to large restaurant chains and not to smaller chains. Similarly, The International Franchise Association (The International Franchise Association) claimed that this is a “discriminatory law that harms the business model of franchising.” The CEO of the association, Matthew Haller, said in a statement that the law will harm smaller franchisees and even cited a study according to which the wage increase would lead to a 20% increase in the prices of the dishes. Opposition to the law was also registered by the national restaurant association.