CA Could Give Fast Food Workers More Power, Streamline Pay

CALIFORNIA — Fast food employees, the fastest growing cohort of low-wage workers in California, may see standardized wages and increased protections under a new measure that passed in the Assembly on Monday.

The measure is the first of its kind in the nation to set statewide minimum standards on wages, working hours, training and working conditions including procedures designed to protect California's 557,000 fast food workers from the coronavirus pandemic.

The bill would enact the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act, which would set standards for fast food restaurants with 30 or more locations.

The new standards would also hand employees more stability and support to sue restaurants if they had been discriminated or retaliated against. Franchise administrators would also have the ability to take action against franchisors if corporations don't exercise compliance with health, safety and employment standards.

AB-257, introduced by Lorena Gonzalez, passed in the state Assembly 41-19 and will now head to the state Senate.

Gonzalez is a longtime labor advocate perhaps best known nationally for her law aimed at giving many independent contractors the same rights and benefits as full-time employees. Gonzalez resigned this month to become executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation.

Supporters of the bill argue that California's fast food workers have lacked protections in their working environments for too long.

An estimated 80 percent of such workers in California are Latino, Black or of Asian descent, two-thirds are women, and many live in working class communities that have been hardest hit by the pandemic.

Others argue that the measure singles out fast food workers as employees in other industries face similar wage and safety concerns.

Republican Assemblyman Kelly Seyarto contended that the bill would drive franchises and brands out of California.

The International Franchise Association alternatively argued that a growing number of women and racial minorities own franchise establishments in the state and higher standards could hinder their progress.

"This potential for continued growth is threatened" by the bill, the group said in opposition, as is "continuing an economic recovery from the pandemic."

Bob Schoonover, president of SEIU California, said fast food workers and local franchises are often at the mercy of the chains themselves.

AB-257 "addresses this imbalance of power by bringing workers and franchisees together to raise standards and protections across the California fast food industry," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.