California approves landmark bill to give fast-food workers more power

theguardian.com:

California lawmakers approved a nation-leading measure that would give more than half a million fast-food workers more power and protections, over the objections of restaurant owners who warn it would drive up consumers’ costs.

The bill will create a new 10-member Fast Food Council with equal numbers of workers’ delegates and employers’ representatives, along with two state officials, empowered to set minimum standards for wages, hours and working conditions in California.

A late amendment would cap any minimum wage increase for fast-food workers at chains with more than 100 restaurants at $22 an hour next year, compared with the statewide minimum of $15.50 an hour, with cost of living increases thereafter.

“We made history today,” said the Service Employees International Union president, Mary Kay Henry. “This legislation is a huge step forward for workers in California and all across the country.”

Workers told the Guardian earlier this year they hoped the legislation would help fight low pay, poor working conditions, and a lack of safety protections, problems that have worsened during the pandemic.

“There are a lot of laws protecting workers but nobody is implementing or doing anything about it. We are essential workers but not treated like that. With the Fast Recovery Act, we’ll be heard,” Maria Yolanda Torres, who has worked at a Subway store in San Jose, California, since May 2018, said in March.

A survey of fast-food workers in Los Angeles published by the UCLA Labor Center in January found workers reported lack of paid sick leave, widespread lack of enforcement of Covid safety protocols and economic insecurity.

More than 40% of workers surveyed reported not having enough money to afford groceries during the pandemic, and