These employees of huge franchises are now guaranteed one of the highest base salaries in the United States.
“It will help me breathe a little easier when it comes to paying rent and even buying food,” said Angélica Hernández, who works at a burger restaurant in Los Angeles.
“In the 19 years I’ve been working in this industry (…) maybe 25 cents was the most we would have in a year if we were ‘good workers’, so this is a big increase,” he added.
Julieta García, an employee at a pizza restaurant, considered that given the high cost of living in California, this increase from US$16 to US$20 per hour is very important.
“We go to the supermarket with US$100 and it’s not enough,” said García, a native of Guatemala. “Our rents increase year following year.”
In California, more than half a million people work in the fast food sector, in globally recognized chains but also in smaller local brands.
Tia Koonse of the University of California, Los Angeles, says the majority of workers in that industry are women and African-Americans, with an average annual salary of $25,800, well below the state average of $43,000. .
“There is a misconception that fast food workers are teenagers who work for pocket change,” he told reporters. “But the truth is that well over half are over 25 years old… and a quarter are actually the main breadwinners in their household.”
The rule enacted in 2023 by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom applies to establishments with reduced or no table service and that have at least 60 locations throughout the country.
Some chains have said they will have to raise prices and warn that wage increases might end up costing jobs.
According to a recent study by the Congressional Budget Office, raising the federal minimum to $17 an hour might help 18 million people over the next five years, but might cost 700,000 jobs.
Koonse maintains that the layoffs in California are unlikely and unnecessary. “California has added 142,000 jobs to the fast food industry since the minimum wage began rising in 2015,” he said.
Outlets in some of the state’s most expensive cities are already paying staff more than $20 an hour, either due to local rules or market forces, he explained.
The academic added that the industry’s majors have recorded record profits since 2018, driven even further by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Instead of layoffs, they might certainly share some of those profits with the poorest workers in California,” he said.
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