Fast-food restaurateurs are pushing back against a new California law aimed at establishing better pay and working conditions for thousands of workers across the state, saying it would cut jobs and raise consumer costs amid inflation.
Known as Save Local Restaurants, the coalition of franchisors and small business owners launched a campaign in September to collect 623,000 signatures by Dec. 4 to place a measure on the 2024 ballot to repeal the FAST Recovery Act, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2023.
“California voters should have a say in whether they shoulder the burden of higher prices and job losses this law will cause,” the coalition said in a Nov. 15 statement.
The union-backed Assembly Bill 257, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Labor Day, will establish a government-run, “fast food council” consisting of 10 appointed members to give workers more power in increasing wage standards and employment benefits.
The council’s regulations would directly impact any chain with at least 100 locations nationwide, including big-name chains like McDonald’s, In-N-Out, and Burger King, among others.
The group told The Epoch Times they do not have an updated signature count yet, but last month they’d reached around 500,000 signatures.
The effects of the law won’t be limited to just major fast-food chains, the group argued, but small businesses as well, since they will be “forced to raise wages and prices to compete for staff.”
“The only thing certain is that the law will create a redundant, unelected council of political appointees with extraordinary power to establish mandates for tens of thousands of counter-service restaurants and dramatically increase the cost of doing business in California,” the statement read.
Hundreds of union supporters of AB 257 protested against the Save Local Restaurants initiative earlier this month, saying the law will offer more than half a million fast-food workers in the state better wages and protection from discrimination and harassment.
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations said in a September statement that the law “guarantees that fast-food workers get a seat at the table on the Fast Food Council, ensuring they have a voice in determining their working conditions and pay.”
Prior to AB 257, California already has the most comprehensive labor protection in the country, with a series of laws regulating work hours, legal holidays, and whistleblower complaints, among other areas of employment.
