COMP NEWS – A proposed minimum wage hike for California fast food employees is under renewed tensions as the deadline for the proposed wage hike grows closer.

Both sides billed the high-profile California fast food deal last year as a resolution to two years of escalating political tensions. 

 

One of workers’ biggest wins in the Legislature during “hot labor summer,” the agreement in the session’s final week resulted in a minimum wage hike for employees and some guarantees for companies. In exchange, the industry agreed to stop fighting the issue at the ballot box and lawmakers backed off on even stricter regulations.

 

But a month before the new wage — $20 an hour for workers at fast food chains with 60 or more locations nationally — goes into effect, the temporary truce is unraveling. 

 

As the Legislature pushes through a bill exempting fast food restaurants in airports, hotels and convention centers, Republican lawmakers who had vehemently pushed back on the wage hike are calling for the deal to be investigated, after Bloomberg reported that Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed for a bakery exemption that benefited a donor who owns two dozen Panera locations in California. 

Governor Newsom has denied the story that he gave special exemptions to organizations based on his campaign donors. Meanwhile, some franchise owners are slashing jobs in advance of a minimum wage increase.

On Thursday, Newsom’s office denied the story and said their lawyers believe Panera and other chain bakeries aren’t actually exempt — a decision that could lead numerous additional businesses to scramble to prepare for a wage hike. In a Bloomberg story Friday, billionaire Greg Flynn says he did not seek a special exemption, though he met with the governor’s staff along with other restaurant owners to suggest a carve-out for “fast casual” restaurants. On Saturday, the California Restaurant Association weighed in, saying there was never any discussion of any brand seeking an exemption, including Panera. In an interview with KNBC aired Sunday, Newsom, himself, called the report “absurd.” Finally, on Tuesday, Flynn said in a statement that he will pay the $20 wage at his restaurants.         

 

The Service Employees International Union, which pushed for the legislation, said it agreed with Newsom’s reasoning. Senate Republican leader Brian Jones called for scrapping the fast food agreement altogether.

 

The renewed fights have moved to the local level, too. 

 

Some franchise owners are cutting jobs in advance of the minimum wage increase, while workers have begun pushing for additional benefits in San Jose and Los Angeles, prompting businesses to gear up to lobby back.

To read more about California’s ongoing wage fights for fast food workers, click here.

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