By CalMatters Capitol Reporter Jeanne Kuang:
When California lawmakers, Governor Gavin Newsom, fast-food companies and the Service Employees International Union announced an agreement to raise wages for fast-food workers, all sides seemed to accept the deal.
There are none, except for the independent restaurant owners who have to pay the raises and who were excluded from the negotiations. Now they are organizing.
In person and via Zoom, franchise owners packed a meeting of the state’s new fast-food council on Wednesday, urging it not to pass any further increases to the industry’s minimum wage after it was raised in April for limited-service restaurants from $16 to $20 – a 25% increase. Fast-food workers are demanding an inflation adjustment for 2025.
The restaurant owners said they have reduced working hours, slowed growth and cut certain benefits since the wage increase. Price increases have also led to a loss of sales, they said. Some of them were accompanied by managers and employees who also opposed further wage increases.
The franchise owners sought to connect their experiences to those of their workers, highlighting a dynamic that has occasionally emerged during years of political battles over fast-food wages: While lawmakers and unions pushed the rule to help a low-wage workforce that is predominantly Latino and black, business groups sought to showcase their own diversity. Many of the restaurant owners at Wednesday’s hearing said they are immigrants, some having come to the U.S. as refugees. Some had started out as fast-food workers themselves and touted the franchise model as a bridge to minority entrepreneurship.
The statement is sure to further fuel the debate over the state’s fast-food law, for which industry groups and Republicans have sharply criticized Newsom.
Both sides have issued competing press releases for months about whether the number of fast-food jobs in California has increased or decreased. In reality, the number of jobs in the fast-food industry has been virtually flat for about a year, according to seasonally adjusted federal labor market data.
More news from the Capitol: Republicans in the California House of Representatives introduced seven bills for Governor Newsom’s special session on gasoline prices on Wednesday. The most important bill is a proposed $100 rebate for motorists, to be funded by revenue from the emissions trading system. Other measures include a suspension of the state’s gasoline tax (which was raised to 59.6 cents per gallon on July 1) and proposals to speed up the permitting process for oil drilling and gas storage projects.
- Chairman of the GOP in the Assembly James Gallagherin a statement: “This special session is just another attempt by Newsom to distract from his role in raising gas prices. While Democrats are behind a plan that Newsom’s own administration says could raise gas prices, Republicans in the Assembly have a common-sense plan to provide relief to motorists.”
The only other bill so far is Newsom’s proposal to authorize the state energy commission to require refineries to hold gasoline reserves, which he says will prevent price spikes. The bill’s first hearing in the Assembly is scheduled for Sept. 26, followed by a floor session on Oct. 1.
More on the topic of jobs: A bill to restrict warehouse locations and truck routes is on Gov. Newsom’s desk, and business groups and city leaders urged him Wednesday to veto the bill, says CalMatters Inland Empire reporter Deborah Brennan.
The League of California Cities joined Inland Empire mayors and business leaders who say the bill would limit cities’ powers over land use. Assemblywoman and co-author of the bill, Eloise Gómez Reyes, a Democrat from San Bernardino, says the bill is a first step toward improving environmental health in communities near warehouses.
Focus on Inland Empire: Every Thursday, Deborah reports on the most important events in this part of California. Read her latest newsletter and sign up to receive it here.
