California fast food workers to get $20 minimum wage under new deal between labor and the industry
Most fast food workers in California would get a raise next year under a new bill in the state Legislature
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Most fast food workers in California would get a $20 minimum wage next year — a nearly $5 per hour raise — under a deal announced Monday between labor unions and the industry that will avoid a costly referendum on the November 2024 ballot.
The mandatory raise would apply to all fast food restaurants in California that are part of a chain with at least 60 locations nationwide. It does not apply to restaurants that operate a bakery and sell bread as a stand-alone menu item, such as Panera Bread. The $20 wage would start April 1 and a council would have the power to raise it each year through 2029.
Ingrid Vilorio, a fast-food worker at a Jack In The Box in the San Francisco Bay Area, said the increase in salary next year will bring some relief to her family, who until recently was sharing a house with two other families to afford rent.
“A lot of us (in the fast-food industry) have to have two jobs to make ends meet, this will give us some breathing space,” said Vilorio, who also works as a nanny.
The agreement ends an tense standoff between labor unions and the fast food industry that started last year when Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law creating a Fast Food Council with the authority to raise wages of fast food workers up to $22 per hour. California's current minimum wage for all industries in the state is $15.50 per hour.
Before the law could take effect, the fast food industry gathered enough signatures to qualify a referendum on the law in the November 2024 election. That meant the law would be on hold until voters could decide whether to overturn it.
Furious, labor unions sponsored
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