Thanks to the $20 an hour minimum wage. Which started on April 1 for fast food workers, the crazy unions are now asking for ANOTHER minimum wage increase. And, no employer will make this decision. No elected official or vote will make the decision. Instead an unelected agency will decide how make more people will lose their jobs and how many businesses will be closed—or businesses not opened.
“Members of the California Fast Food Workers Union, a branch of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), presented their “demands” at Wednesday’s first-ever meeting of the state’s Fast Food Council.
The panel is comprised of government appointees, industry representatives, and worker representatives. It is tasked with developing standards for California’s fast food industry, including pay.
In a memo sent to KTLA 5 News, the SEIU is asking that the minimum wage be increased to $20.70 per hour by January 1, 2025, “to keep up with the rising cost of living.”
The unions CREATED the increased cost of living—now like the murderer of a parent claiming the court should take pity on him, because he is now an orphan, this is a disaster.
California fast food workers want another minimum wage increase
by: Marc Sternfield, KTLA, 8/1/24 https://ktla.com/news/california/california-fast-food-workers-want-another-minimum-wage-increase/SHARE
Four months after California boosted the minimum wage for fast food workers from $16 to $20 an hour, the union representing hundreds of thousands of employees is asking for another raise.
Members of the California Fast Food Workers Union, a branch of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), presented their “demands” at Wednesday’s first-ever meeting of the state’s Fast Food Council.
The panel is comprised of government appointees, industry representatives, and worker representatives. It is tasked with developing standards for California’s fast food industry, including pay.
In a memo sent to KTLA 5 News, the SEIU is asking that the minimum wage be increased to $20.70 per hour by January 1, 2025, “to keep up with the rising cost of living.”
The union is also demanding more stable schedules, enforcement of backpay owed to employees, and an investigation into what it says are “pervasive abuses” in the fast food industry, such as wage theft, harassment, discrimination, and unsafe conditions.
“As California’s fast-food industry grows, cooks and cashiers are doubling down on their fight across the state to win safe and healthy stores, stable hours, pay that keeps up with inflation and training to understand their rights on the job,” the memo read.
The heated debate over the impact of Assembly Bill 1228 shows no sign of cooling.
Trade groups and some political pundits claim the mandated wage hike has led to job losses and forced restaurants to close, while the SEIU and Governor Gavin Newsom’s office point to data showing the industry added thousands of jobs from April 1, when the law took effect, through June.
Fast food employees have certainly welcomed the boost in pay.
“It’s been really good because I can put more food on the table and in my fridge and pay my rent on time which was always a challenge,” Romualda Alcazar Cruz, an Oakland Wendy’s employee, told KXTL-TV reporter Eytan Wallace on Wednesday.
Joseph Bryant, executive vice president of the SEIU, said the industry has not only added jobs but “multiple franchisees have also noted that the higher wage is already attracting better job candidates, thus reducing turnover.”
Customers, however, have seen fast food prices climb.
Most, if not all, major chains have hiked menu prices by single digits or low double digits. Franchisees also acknowledge cutting back on employee hours or scheduling fewer shifts.
“I have been forced to raise prices,” an Arby franchisee told the council. “I try to do the best I can. I have taken money out of my own savings to make things work this last quarter. But I don’t know how long I’ll be able to sustain something like that moving forward.”
Jot Condie, president and CEO of the California Restaurant Association, which opposed AB 1228, said businesses are simultaneously feeling the squeeze from rising rents and food costs.
“When labor costs jump more than 25% overnight, any restaurant business with already-thin margins will be forced to reduce expenses elsewhere,” Condie said. “They don’t have a lot of options beyond increasing prices, reducing hours of operation, or scaling back the size of their workforce.”
The Fast Food Council is not expected to meet again until September, and it remains uncertain if SEIU’s proposal for another minimum wage hike will be approved.
$20.70 per hour! Why not $25 per hour and include Panera Bread?
Here’s a thought: LET THEM HAVE IT!! Let’s see how much longer they survive before people just do what one woman did when she got to the window and saw the price. She just went ‘ZZZZOOOOOMM!’ and, no, I’m not talking about the chat app. She left without picking up her order or paying at all!
Anyone remember when you could walk into a McDonald’s, order FOUR (4) things AND GET CHANGE BACK FROM YOUR ‘WASHINGTON’??!! Fast food is ‘faast’ (sic) becoming a dinosaur!