California Fast Fast Top after a year: Several meetings and only three hired souls

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A year after California’s historical efforts to regulate the conditions of more than half a million fast food workers, the State Council set to control the industry has barely decided how to hold the meetings.

The fast food council, composed of nine members, business owners, workers and representatives of the Union, has recently decided to look at a cost of living up to a minimum salary of $ 20 for fast food restaurants that have come into force last April. At his next meeting, she is not yet planned, plans to discuss the increase in this requirement by 3.5% or in last year’s inflation, which is less.

But that won’t do much more than that. After two marathon meetings in January and February, in which a smaller group of council members listened to hours of the comments of workers and their allies, as well as the owners of restaurants and their allies, the chairman of the council put the increase in the next agenda for discussion, not for a vote.

This is the closest thing that the Council of the Political Decision has been since it began to meet last March.

Nick Hardeman, chairman of the Food Council and a former member of the state senate staff, who Gavin News has determined to be the only “public” member of the Council that is not related to companies or unions, said rhythm is expected so far. He compared the work to create a new department from scratch and said that he and the council had spent last year hiring three employees and hoping to set rules soon on how to obey future votes.

“The gathering of the bases to be able to focus on significant policies conversations, it took a long time,” Hardeman said. “It’s hard to make decisions. And there are many people who come from two sets of completely different life experiences when we talk about topics and this is visible at every meeting. “

In 2021, the Union of International Services Employees proposed a European -style state council in which workers and fast food owners would directly negotiate with each other because of the salaries and working conditions on behalf of the whole industry. Following the state legislation dominated by Democrats and Newsom approved the law, fast food corporations spend millions to try to cancel it.

The commitment, which Newsom signed in 2023, imposed a minimum salary of $ 20 for workers at fast food restaurants belonging to a chain of 60 or more locals across the country and the State Council (divided equally between companies and workers, with a neutral president) who may approve of more increases, but a little more.

Members of the two countries said they wanted to find engagements to improve the industry, but meetings (about half a dozen from last March) follow the same way: the discussion focuses mainly on what the Council should discuss.

Many workers throughout the country have attended these meetings or have called to raise their fears about salaries, employers who reduce the hours and costs of life.

According to a calculator designed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute (MIT), Twenty dollars an hour, although more than 20% higher than the ordinary minimum wage of the state, it is still far from what the average single Californias need children to reach the end of the month. The workers and their council defenders demanded a hearing so that workers could ventilate the allegations of abuse in the workplace more detailed.

Wave of franchise He asked the council to reject future increases, warning of the closure of restaurants and describing in detail the ways in which they reduced their hours or staff to bear the cost of increasing the minimum wage. Some owners emphasize their own humble origin, winking on the road that the franchisement industry offers business ownership for people in color.

Controversial

Since the increase in the salary last April, researchers published controversial reports on their effects.

A recent response report He said about the Berkeley research group that there are 10,000 jobs in the California Fast Fast sector between June 2023 and June 2024 (the last month available for this set of data). He also concluded that the law raises the menu prices by 14.5%.

But In another study Promoted by unions, UC Berkeley researchers said Berkley’s research group does not take into account changes in other restoration sectors or control the way seasonal vibrations in the industry are manifested differently in California than in the rest of the country. The UC Berkeley report came to the conclusion that a salary increase has little effect on fast food jobs and only 1.5% increase in menu prices.

Federal data More actualized show that employment growth in the restaurant industry with limited services in California remains virtually stable for about a year and a half.

Arindrajit Dube, an economist at the University of Massachusetts at AMHERST and a minimum wage expert, said it was still too early to measure the effects of wage increases and to warn against the comparison of jobs in California, without comparing them with a similar, slight delay, nationally at the restaurant. He said in an email that “will surely say that an essential part (most, but not all) from the increase in labor costs has moved to prices.”

None of the studies reflect whether the workers’ hours remained the same.

A key ingredient that is missing from the fast food debate: McDonald’s corporate representatives, Burger King and other fast food titans.

When legislators first examined the fast food advice, McDonald’s and other franchisees invested millions of dollars in the campaign to reject a wider proposal.

Now they were largely absent from the Council meetings. On the other hand, the owners of their franchises pay remuneration and branded tariffs to work independently restaurants and are responsible for the salaries and employment that speak at the council meetings in order to advocate a new salaries.

McDonald’s, Burger King, Yum! Brands and other fast -food franchised chains did not respond to Calmatters

Salaries and hours

Restaurant owners and their council defenders called on their colleagues to focus on other issues. The owner of the Krispy Kreme franchise and a member of the Council, Rich Raynis, suggested last week that the Council should discuss how to support workers affected by Los Angeles OA employees, who are afraid to perform in the midst of an increase in the implementation of the Imigration Laws.

“We could talk about many reasons to postpone the conversation,” said adviser Maria Maldonado, director of the California Union of Fast Food Workers. “But workers are still waiting for us to talk about it (a life cost correction) and that this advice is useful.”

The Council had scheduled a hearing with the leaders of the State Labor Agency in January to discuss its role in accepting complaints by fast food workers, but postponed it due to fires in Los Angeles and still did not reprogram it.

Rich Tiuu, the owner of two McDonald’s restaurants in Santa Clara County, has received the slow pace of the Council. He was the owner of his McDonald’s for about a year, when a salary increase of $ 20 last April came into force, he said and passed from approximately 80 employees to less than 70, not covering the vacancies when employees leave.

“Council members are not fully organized to include questions on the agenda,” he said. “They are constantly talking about increasing the cost of work and that’s all they talk about. I feel that other factors should consider. “

Marina Orosko, a student and worker at the University of Chipotle in Sacramento, is waiting for the advice to approve an increase to help pay rent and a recent increase in registration. He said that last year he worked about 30 hours a week at other fast food restaurants and that he can only work for about 20 now and wants an audience on working conditions.

“Although this is a new process and it can take a while,” he said, “It feels really especially especially to sit with our bosses and share our feelings and ideas.”

This article was originally published by CalmattersS