The California Senate on Monday passed a bill that could change the way the service sector is regulated by setting wages and creating a council to improve working conditions for fast food workers.
of measurementThe bill, known as AB 257, passed by a vote of 21 to 12. The state legislature has already approved a version of the bill that now requires Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval, but he has not indicated whether he will sign it. The bill was strongly opposed by the fast food industry.
The bill marks an important step towards sectoral bargaining, where workers and employers negotiate compensation and working conditions across industries, as opposed to corporate bargaining, where workers negotiate with individual companies at individual locations. There is a possibility.
“In my view, this is one of the most important state employment laws passed in a long time,” said Kate Andreas, a labor law expert at Columbia University. “Employers and workers can formally come to the table to set industry-wide standards that are not limited to setting minimum wages.”
Sectoral negotiations are common in Europe but rare in the United States, although certain industries such as automobile manufacturing have similar arrangements. California’s bill won’t bring about true sectoral bargaining, where workers negotiate directly with employers, not a government agency that sets broad standards, but it does incorporate key elements of the model.
The bill would establish a 10-member council, including worker and employer representatives, and two state officials, to review wage and safety standards across the restaurant industry.
The council can issue health, safety and non-discrimination rules and set minimum wages industry-wide.The law states that the statewide minimum wage is $15.50The bill also calls for annual cost of living adjustments for a new minimum wage starting in 2024.
Restaurant chains with at least 100 locations nationwide will come under the jurisdiction of the council. This includes companies like Starbucks that own and operate stores and franchisees of large companies like McDonald’s. Hundreds of thousands of workers across the state will be affected.
The Council will close after six years, but may be reconvened by Congress.
Mary Kay Henry, president of the International Union of Service Workers, which has nearly two million members, said the legislation was pushed as workers tried to unionize store by store to change policy. He said this was very important because of the challenges faced by the
“Stores close, franchise owners sell, or multinationals withdraw property leases,” Henry said.
Franchise industry insiders say it is very rare for a store to close in response to a union campaign. It has closed several company-owned stores across the country that were in or were trying to join a union, but it also closed many non-union stores for the same reason.
Industry insiders say the bill will raise labor costs and, as a result, menu prices at a time when inflation is already widely feared.a Recent reports According to the Center for Economic Forecasting and Development at the University of California, Riverside, employers are estimated to pass on about one-third of the increase in labor compensation to consumers.
Matthew Haller, president of the International Franchise Association, a trade group that opposes the bill, said: “We’re setting fire alarms in every state to let our members know what’s going on in California. “We’re concerned about the multiplier effect of other states—things like this.”
Ingrid Vilorio, who works at a Jack in the Box franchise near Oakland, Calif., and who pressured lawmakers to support the bill during several trips to the state capital, Sacramento, said the measure was safe. said he believes it will lead to an improvement in , through rules requiring employers to promptly repair or replace broken equipment such as grills and fryers that could cause burns.
Bilorio also said he hopes the council will crack down on issues such as sexual harassment, wage theft and denial of paid sick leave. She and her colleagues went on strike last year, demanding masks, hand sanitizer and Covid-19 sick pay to which they are entitled.
Jack in the Box did not respond to a request for comment.
Haller said state agencies are already empowered to crack down on employers who violate laws governing wage payments, safety, discrimination and harassment.
“The state is free to use existing tools,” Haller said. “Instead of setting punitive targets for subsections of the sector, we need to provide more ample funding.”
Haller and other opponents said: criticism The state Treasury Department said the bill “could lead to a fragmented regulatory and legal environment for employers” and would increase the burden on the agencies that oversee existing regulations, resulting in “existing delays in enforcement.” The bill does not provide additional funding to enforcement agencies.
David Weil, who oversaw the agency that enforces the federal minimum wage under President Barack Obama, said while money is important for labor regulators, the new council would benefit a wide range of workers without additional funding. For example, raising the minimum wage for workers at fast food restaurants could raise wages for workers in other sectors, such as retail, that compete with fast food restaurants for labor. There is, he said.
But Dr. Weil noted that creating new standards in the fast food industry could take resources away from labor and employment law enforcement in other industries where workers may be similarly vulnerable. I agree.
Opponents were able to secure a number of concessions in the state senate, including prohibiting Congress from making rules limiting sick leave or paid vacation benefits or schedules.
The Senate also abolished so-called joint and several liability provisions that allowed regulators to hold parent companies like McDonald’s liable for violations by franchise owners.