Californians still do not know the impact of $ 20 for fast food

From And WaltersCalmness

This comment was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

As California’s legislation is heading for the end of its session in 2025 this week, processing the remnants of thousands of bills introduced during the year, several measures cover Capitol’s most durable conflict: unions against employers under working conditions.

Unions are looking for higher salaries and benefits, citing the welfare and financial needs of workers and their families. Employers are opposed that the cost of providing what the unions want, adversely affects their competitiveness in other countries and nations and forces them to raise prices, reduce employment, or even leave California to remain solvents.

At the core, the unions do better than the employers of the California political arena-it is not surprising, given that the favorable democrats of the Governor down the Governor dominate the Capitol.

One of the most intense battles for an employer of the Union emerged in 2022. legislation that would raise the minimum wage for fast food workers to $ 22 per hourS He also declares that fast food franchises are only subsidiaries of their parent chains, not independently owned by the business.

Fast food companies and franchisees viewed it as a double bite, which will not only increase their costs, but will undermine the franchise system itself. Industry also does not like the creation of the bill of advice With the power to regulate fast food conditions, especially salaries.

The measure accepted both legislative houses with votes of the party, and governor Gavin Newo signed it. The industry responded with a campaign to raise the newsletter issue, promising that the corporations affected would spend any money to cancel the law due to its impact on the franchise system.

Which faction would win such a battle, however, would never be known because a year after the bill was signed and after prolonged negotiations, a The compromise was developed and quickly came into force. He raised the minimum wage to an initial $ 20 an hour and left the supervisory advice intact, though with some changes. More important for the industry, it does not interfere with the franchise system.

The new salary came into force in April 2024 and since then the industry and the trade unions have fallen on its impact not only on salaries but also on total employment and prices of fast food.

The fractions celebrate the second anniversary of the compromise in 2023 by issuing reports that cannot be different.

Labor acts first with the release of September 5 Analysis from the center of UC-Berkeley for wages and employment dynamicsS This is a research organization whose reports equally support the country of Union’s problems.

Researchers Michael Reich and Dennis Sosinski said the $ 20 salary did not reduce fast food, did not change the number of working hours and “resulted in a minimum increase in the price of the menu (about 8 cents for a $ 4 burger).” They said their survey included prices on more than 2000 restaurants in California and other states.

Five days later based in Virginia Institute of Employment Policy – which was created by Berman and Company, a lobbyist for a restaurant, hotel drink, tobacco and fossil fuels – issued a study based on data from The Federal Bureau of Labor StatisticsS

He concluded that the fast food industry in California had lost 19 102 jobs since Newsom signed the law in September 2023, including 15,988 since the law entered into force last year, more than doubling the degree of loss observed in the commercial sites for fast food nationally. It did not deepen the prices of fast foods.

The two competing studies from less than objective sources leave us still wondering what the real impact may be. This is a gap in knowledge that must be completed by someone or something with impeccable powers, as other business sectors may be the next goals.

Actually there is already a battle in Los Angeles over $ 30 salary for workers in hotels and other hospitality companies imposed by the City Council.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.