2024-04-03 21:03:21
The increase in the minimum wage for workers in fast food establishments in California to $20 US per hour – or more than $27 Canadian – is also causing the prices of meals offered in these businesses to jump.
The New York Post checked the menu prices of several restaurant chains in Los Angeles and found that some of them have already passed on the costs of these wage increases to consumers.
According to figures from the American media, it is at Burger King where we find the biggest increases.
Burger King Company LLC
For example, the Texas Double Whopper trio rose nearly 12%, from US$15.09 ($20.42 Canadian) as of March 29 to US$16.89 ($22.86 Canadian) on the first april.
The Big Fish trio, for its part, jumped by US$4, an increase of 53% from the price of US$7.49 posted in March to $11.49 in April.
However, representatives of the Burger King chain did not respond to questions from New York journalists.
“No possibility can be put aside”
However, the popular burger franchise isn’t the only one to have seen increases.
Hart House restaurants, a franchise founded by actor and comedian Kevin Hart, reported increases of up to 25%.
Note, however, that not all chains have increased their prices drastically.
McDonald’s and Wendy’s have yet to post higher prices.
AFP
Scott Rodrick, an owner of 18 restaurants in Northern California, told CNN that “when you have to operate with this type of extraordinary change overnight – you know, I’m talking regarding a pay raise by 25% – no possibility can be put aside.
Thus, there is nothing to indicate that these franchises, which have still not reacted to the increase, will not raise prices in the weeks that follow.
“Everything else will increase”
This new measure, implemented since last Monday in this state on the American west coast, has created mixed reactions among consumers.
“It’s a substantial increase,” Shawn Fields, a 40-year-old customer who visited an In-N-Out restaurant, told the New York Post. “It seems reasonable,” he added.
However, not all customers perceive this increase as a good thing.
“To be honest,” Ivan Moreno began in an interview with the American media, “I don’t like it because everything else will increase,” he confided when he bought a meal at Burger King.
“People have to make a living somehow, but with that, restaurateurs have to raise their prices,” he continued.
The Democratic-governed state agreed that the profession has been historically underpaid for several years.
The law was passed by elected officials last year following taking note of the conditions of many workers in this field.
Among the more than 500,000 employees of fast food establishments, the majority are not teenagers who are still studying, but rather parents who must provide for their family, according to figures from the New York newspaper.
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