#california fast food workers union

[iww-gnv]

California fast-food workers are forming a unique kind of union

Lizzet Aguilar has worked at a McDonald’s in Los Angeles for 17 years. She’s never once been given a paid day off. She’s never taken a vacation. When her husband or nine-year-old son get sick and need her to care for them—or if she gets sick herself—she has to call out and lose a day’s pay. “Es difícil,” she says: It’s difficult. Her wages are already low. She makes $16.78 per hour. “Estamos luchando día a día. Es difícil vivir en California,” says Aguilar: We live day to day. It’s difficult to live in California. But for many years she was afraid to speak up and join the Fight for 15, a national movement to raise the minimum wage that started with fast-food workers and has since seen 14 states and Washington, D.C., raise their minimum wages to $15 an hour, increasing pay for 26 million workers.   Then the pandemic hit and Aguilar’s boss didn’t give workers any hand sanitizer, gloves, or even masks. Six coworkers got COVID-19. “Ese me puso a decir, ‘Basta,’” she recalls: It pushed her to say, Enough. She got involved to protect herself and her family.  Now Aguilar will be part of the next evolution in the Fight for 15 movement: She and her coworkers will announce on February 9 that they are forming the California Fast Food Workers Union, which will be part of SEIU. Hundreds of workers from different fast-food companies will gather in Los Angeles to sign union cards. It’s time, Aguilar and her coworkers decided, to become more formal members of a union and pay dues. It’s a fresh start, she says, on the road toward securing bigger gains.

Read the rest here.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

When the app tries to make you robo-scab

When we talk about the abusive nature of gig work, there’s some obvious targets, like algorithmic wage discrimination, where two workers are paid different rates for the same job, in order to trick occasional gig-workers to give up their other sources of income and become entirely dependent on the app:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/12/algorithmic-wage-discrimination/#fishers-of-men

Then there’s the opacity — imagine if your boss refused to tell you how much you’ll get paid for a job until after you’ve completed it, claimed that this was done in order to “protect privacy” — and then threatened anyone who helped you figure out the true wage on offer:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/07/hr-4193/#boss-app

Opacity is wage theft’s handmaiden: every gig worker producing content for a social media algorithm is subject to having their reach — and hence their pay — cut based on the unaccountable, inscrutable decisions of a content moderation system:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/10/e2e/#the-censors-pen

Making content for an algorithm is like having a boss that docks every paycheck because you broke rules that you are not allowed to know, because if you knew the rules, you’d figure out how to cheat without your boss catching you. Content moderation is the last place where security through obscurity is considered good practice:

https://doctorow.medium.com/como-is-infosec-307f87004563

When workers seize the means of computation, amazing things happen. In Indonesia, gig workers create and trade tuyul apps that let them unilaterally modify the way that their bosses’ systems see them — everything from GPS spoofing to accessibility mods:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/07/08/tuyul-apps/#gojek

So the tech and labor story isn’t wholly grim: there are lots of ways that tech can enhance labor struggles, letting workers collaborate and coordinate. Without digital systems, we wouldn’t have the Hot Strike Summer:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/02/not-what-it-does/#who-it-does-it-to

As the historic writer/actor strike shows us, the resurgent labor movement and the senescent forces of crapulent capitalism are locked in a death-struggle over not just what digital tools do, but who they do it for and who they do it to:

https://locusmag.com/2022/01/cory-doctorow-science-fiction-is-a-luddite-literature/

When it comes to the epic fight over who technology acts for and against, we need a diversity of tactics, backstopped by tech operated by and for its users — and by laws that protect workers and the public. That dynamic is in sharp focus in UNITE Here Local 11’s strike against Orange County’s Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa.

The UNITE Here strike turns on the usual issues like a living wage (hotel staff are paid so little they have to rent rooming-house beds by the shift, paying for the right to sleep in a room for a few hours at a time, without any permanent accommodation). They’re also seeking health-care and pensions, so they can be healthy at work and retire after long service. Finally, they’re seeking their employer’s support for LA’s Responsible Hotels Ordinance, which would levy a tax on hotel rooms to help pay for hotel workers’ housing costs (a hotel worker who can’t afford a bed is the equivalent of a fast food worker who has to apply for food stamps):

https://www.unitehere11.org/responsible-hotels-ordinance/

But the Marriott — which is owned by the University of California and managed by Aimbridge Hospitality — has refused to bargain, walking out negotiations.

But the employer didn’t walk out over wages, benefits or support for a housing subsidy. They walked out when workers demanded that the scabs that the company was trying to hire to break the strike be given full time, union jobs.

These aren’t just any scabs, either. They’re predominantly Black workers who rely on the $700m Instawork app for gigs. These workers are being dispatched to cross the picket line without any warning that they’re being contracted as strikebreakers. When workers refuse the cross the picket and join the strike, Instawork cancels all their shifts and permanently blocks them from new jobs.

This is a new, technologically supercharged form of illegal strikebreaking. It’s one thing for a single boss to punish a worker who refuses to scab, but Instawork acts as a plausible-deniability filter for all the major employers in the region. Like the landlord apps that allow landlords to illegally fix rents by coordinating hikes, Instawork lets bosses illegally collude to rig wages by coordinating a blocklist of workers who refuse to scab:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/10/company-that-makes-rent-setting-software-for-landlords-sued-for-collusion/?comments=1

The racial dimension is really important here: the Marriott has a longstanding de facto policy of refusing to hire Black workers, and whenever they are confronted with this, they insist that there are no qualified Black workers in the labor pool. But as soon as the predominantly Latino workforce struck, Marriott discovered a vast Black workforce that it could coerce into scabbing, in collusion with Instawork.

Now, all of this isn’t just sleazy, it’s illegal, a violation of Section 7 of the NLRB Act. Historically, that wouldn’t have mattered, because a string of presidents, R and D, have appointed useless do-nothing ghouls to run the NLRB. But the Biden admin, pushed by the party’s left wing, made a string of historic, excellent appointments, including NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, who has set her sights on punishing gig work companies for flouting labor law:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/10/see-you-in-the-funny-papers/#bidens-legacy

UNITE HERE 11 has brought a case to the NLRB, charging the Instawork, the UC system, Marriott, and Aimbridge with violating labor law by blackmailing gig workers into crossing the picket line. The union is also asking the NLRB to punish the companies for failing to protect workers from violent retaliation from the wealthy hotel guests who have punched them and screamed epithets at them. The hotel has refused to identify these thug guests so that the workers they assaulted can swear out complaints against them.

Writing about the strike for Jacobin, Alex N Press tells the story of Thomas Bradley, a Black worker who was struck off all Instawork shifts for refusing to cross the picket line and joining it instead:

https://jacobin.com/2023/07/southern-california-hotel-workers-strike-automated-management-unite-here

Bradley’s case is exhibit A in the UNITE HERE 11 case before the NLRB. He has a degree in culinary arts, but racial discrimination in the industry has kept him stuck in gig and temp jobs ever since he graduated, nearly a quarter century ago. Bradley lived out of his car, but that was repossessed while he slept in a hotel room that UNITE HERE 11 fundraised for him, leaving him homeless and bereft of all his worldly possessions.

With UNITE HERE 11’s help, Bradley’s secured a job at the downtown LA Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, a hotel that has bargained with the workers. Bradley is using his newfound secure position to campaign among other Instawork workers to convince them not to cross picket lines. In these group chats, Jacobin saw workers worrying “that joining the strike would jeopardize their standing on the app.”

Today (July 30) at 1530h, I’m appearing on a panel at Midsummer Scream in Long Beach, CA, to discuss the wonderful, award-winning “Ghost Post” Haunted Mansion project I worked on for Disney Imagineering.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/30/computer-says-scab/#instawork

[Image ID: An old photo of strikers before a struck factory, with tear-gas plumes rising above them. The image has been modified to add a Marriott sign to the factory, and the menacing red eye of HAL9000 from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' to the sky over the factory. The workers have been colorized to a yellow-green shade and the factory has been colorized to a sepia tone.]

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[beardedmrbean]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Lost in the hubbub surrounding California's new $20-per-hour minimum wage for fast food workers is how that raise could impact public schools, forcing districts to compete with the likes of McDonald's and Wendy's for cafeteria workers amid a state budget crunch.

The minimum wage law that took effect Monday guarantees at least $20-per-hour for workers at fast food restaurant chains with at least 60 locations nationwide. That doesn't include school food service workers, historically some of the lowest-paid workers in public education.

Yet demand for school meals is higher than ever in California, the first state to guarantee free meals for all students regardless of their family's income. And demand is projected to fuel an increase of more than 70 million extra meals in California schools this year compared to 2018, according to the state Department of Education.

But these jobs typically have lots of turnover and are harder to fill. The minimum wage boost for fast food workers could make that even more difficult.

“They are all very worried about it. Most are saying they anticipate it will be harder and harder to hire employees,” said Carrie Bogdanovich, president of the California School Nutrition Association.

Statewide, some districts have already taken steps to compete in the new reality. Last year, the Sacramento Unified School District — anticipating the law's passage — agreed to a 10% increase for its food service workers and other low-paying jobs, followed by another 6% increase July 1 of this year to bump their wages up to $20 per hour.

Cancy McArn, the district's chief human resources officer, said it was the largest single raise in the district in nearly three decades.

“We are looking not only at competing with districts and comparing with districts, we're also looking at fast food places,” McArn said.

In Southern California, San Luis Coastal Unified doubled its food service staff to 40 people after seeing a 52% increase in the number of students eating school meals. The district prepares 8,500 meals daily for 7,600 students across 15 school sites — breakfast, lunch and even supper options for youth in after-school sports and activities.

The district has since limited the number of its entry-level positions, which are the hardest to fill, while seeking to hire more for complex roles like “culinary lead” and “central kitchen supervisor” that require more skills and hours — making them more attractive to job seekers.

“That’s allowed us to be more competitive,” said Erin Primer, director of food and nutrition services for the San Luis Coastal Unified School District.

Tia Orr, executive director of the Services Employees International Union California — which represents both school food service workers and fast food employees — said school districts and other service industries must consider raising wages because of this new law.

“This is a good thing, and it is long overdue,” she said.

But some districts are limited in what they can do. In the Lynwood Unified School District in Los Angeles County, the starting salary for food service workers is $17.70 per hour and maxes out at $21.51 per hour, according to Gretchen Janson, the district's assistant superintendent of business services. She said these workers only work three hours per day, meaning they aren't eligible for health benefits.

Janson says the district is waiting to see how employees react, adding: “We just don't have the increase in revenue to be able to provide additional funding for staff.”

Nuria Alvarenga has worked food service in the Lynwood School District for 20 years. She makes $21 per hour now, but said she could likely earn more in fast food.

While she said several co-workers were considering finding other jobs, she hasn't decided yet what she will do. She normally works at an elementary school, but has been filling in recently at a high school where she enjoys seeing former students recognize her as they stand in line for lunch.

“I'm so glad they still remember me,” she said.

School food service workers have gotten more support in recent years under a state push to expand school meals and make them more nutritious. That included $720 million in recent years for upgrades to school kitchens to better prepare fresh meals, plus $45 million to create an apprenticeship program to professionalize the industry.

It would be difficult for lawmakers to mandate a raise for school food workers given the complexities of the state's school funding formula. That's why some advocacy groups, including the Chef Ann Foundation, proposed a state-funded incentive program that would have given school food workers who completed an apprenticeship program a $25,000 bonus payable over five years.

That idea didn't make it into Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's budget proposal released in January. The state is facing a multibillion dollar budget deficit, limiting new spending.

But pay raises aren't the only incentives school districts can offer. There's also health insurance, paid vacation, no night or weekend shifts and a pension that could guarantee a monthly income after retirement. Plus, school food workers have predictable hours, letting them work other jobs if they wish — or in summer when school is out.

“Restaurants are laying off employees. They're cutting hours,” said Eric Span, director of nutrition services for the Sweetwater Union High School District in San Diego County. “I think we should position ourselves to really talk about some stability.”

Michael Reich, a labor economics professor at the University of California-Berkeley, said those factors could favor school districts when competing for workers.

“Working in a school cafeteria gives you more stability, job security and maybe less stress than in a profit making institution,” he said. “So there's a lot of advantages from a community standpoint. But that's not to say they don't also want to get more money.”

[mixotrophics]

Supermarkets and intl farming corporations are evil I think: international trade, refrigeration, and the race for the bottom

nowadays we have refrigeration, freezing, and fast-moving vehicles with these technologies installed. This means that it's now possible to move perishable goods over longer distances.

Up front, seems pretty cool. You can get mangoes in Norway and saltwater fish in deeply-landlocked places. There have been benefits to some people too. Primarily this is with fisheries for desirable catches with a restricted geographic range and no real farms. For example, Nephrops norvegicus is a crustacean that lives in cold water. It is known as scampi† or langousteen when sold as food . As a shellfish, it spoils incredibly quickly, and so is primarily sold in two forms: frozen, and live (to be killed immediately before cooking). Neither of these options would be possible to sell to far-away locations without modern tech, and french desire for high-quality nephrops was the main thing keeping many individual crustacean fishers in Scotland afloat financially (until Brexit happened, and customs slowed down trade enough that live nephrops weren't able to be sold to france, so the fishers had to sell frozen ones for less profit and it's been very not good and pushed a lot of people into poverty , Brexit, babey )

but the Big Thing here is that a lot of foods are not geographically restricted in a way we can't overcome right now. A lot of things can be just fine living somewhere else, but just can't swim across the ocean to get there, etc. Quinoa farms in england, olives in california, cacao in africa, potatoes almost ubiquitous. So when something can be grown wherever and technology means we can ship perishables around the planet no-prob , big supermarkets can now choose where they get their goods from a wide range of options.

And where do they pick? They pick to buy from the cheapest places; the places where environmental + workplace safety regulations don't impose more costs, where the workers are underpaid or enslaved and their wages don't mess with their boss's bottom line. The way a country can attract a big company (and its money) is by crushing unions, allowing slavery, and so on. If a government enforces environmental regulations or minimum wage etc, then the big company moves its operations to a different country. This is the race to the bottom, where countries gain jobs by disenfranchising their people. Sometimes, "structural adjustment programs" and the like are used by companies to say: Hey, financially-struggling country, we'll pay you a bunch of money in exchange for some land & for implementing laws that reduce workers' rights.

& in countries with better workers rights and environmental protections, jobs evaporate into thin air as supermarkets by goods elsewhere.

Who benefits? only the higher-ups in these companies, buying goods at the lowest possible cost, and then selling them at a huge profit margin in countries where the living costs are different. Buy one chocolate bar in exchange for the money a cacao-picker may earn in a day of backbreaking labor.

-

I live in a less-populated country where low-density urban centers are surrounded by farms.

On the bus ride to the hospital i saw fields of oilseeds, edible brassicas, strawberries, potatoes ... sheep and cow pastures ... forest-banks grown lush from the high-latitude midnight sun, full of wild edibles.

In town center there is one store that sells local goods, only meat.

I go to the store and the produce is sourced from despotic regimes and countries implicated in human rights abuses and forced labor. fresh vegetables cost money people don't have. health issues from insufficient nutrition are chronic and frequent. the supermarket CEOs have multiple mansions.

-

the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte established ABasteCer markets, land in prime (town central) locations where proprietors could bid to run the market; certain important foods such as fresh vegetables would be sold at a fixed, lower price, while buying the goods from farmers for a higher price, while others would be sold as normal. While the fixed-price foods didn't have a profit margin, the proprietors didn't have to worry about rent , & the unfixed foods provided enough of a wage for them.

Local farmers got paid more, exploitation elsewhere avoided. Lower prices meant poor people could buy important foods, nutrient deficiency dropped.

i wonder how much fighting it would take for such a thing to be established elsewhere in the world . Shall we?

-

† note that if its Cheap then they're probably lying and selling you intensively-farmed Litopeneaus prawns ... these are implicated in ecological problems such as mangrove destruction.

-

World Hunger: 10 Myths. Frances Moore Lappé and Joseph Collins, 2015.

[azspot]

Fast-food bosses fucked around, and boy did they find out. Funding for the IWC passed the state budget, and the franchisee joint liability is set to pass the legislature this week. The fast-food bosses cried uncle and begged Newsom's office for a deal. In exchange for defunding the IWC and canceling the vote on the liability bill, the industry has agreed to an hourly wage increase for the state's 550,000 fast-food workers, from $15.50 to $20, taking effect in April.

How unions won a 30% raise for every fast food worker in California

[girderednerve]

i read another book! i mean i read it a couple days ago but i forgot to post about it so i am posting now

the book is 'the hammer' by hamilton nolan. it reminded me a lot of 'fight like hell,' which i could not finish (it's not bad but i lost steam; also, the narrator enunciated both Ts in "atlanta", which i might also do if i were narrating a book but nevertheless sounds deeply wrong to me). both of these books are by journalists on the labor beat, and were a little unfocused for my taste. there's a good amount of bouncing around between subjects of past reporting, which is reasonable but doesn't really feel like it's book writing, you know? harder to keep on a central argument.

the central argument of 'the hammer' is that there are a lot of workers who want to organize into unions, that unions desperately need to expand their membership in order to be able to do anything, and that there is a disastrous & ongoing failure of established labor institutions to strategize & commit sufficient resources to new organizing campaigns. i think this premise is very reasonable, so many points there, but there were a few weird choices in this book, probably as a result of the 'bouncing around between subjects of past reporting' thing & the specific time in which the book was written. there is no substantial discussion of the UAW or the election of shawn fain, which feels weird because shawn fain's whole thing is that the UAW is swinging big at labor organizing in the south & they're fighting to get more workers included in UAW contracts, especially in EV manufacturing, and also because shawn fain was elected in no small part by the academic workers in UAW. the 2865 strike was an unholy mess in some very important ways (as an outside observer with an inside friend), but it was still a huge deal in the labor movement. i kept waiting for it to come up and it didn't! instead, there was a ton of stuff about sara nelson. like, not just her high-profile role in the labor movement or that time she called for a general strike or her aspirations for the AFL-CIO, her religious background & her health issues & (for some reason multiple times?) her appearance. i like sara nelson fine but i found this sort of dull.

especially because there is some good stuff in this book! we spend a bunch of time on the culinary union in las vegas (unfortunately, nolan narrates this book himself and he pronounces it as "kyulinary" for reasons i don't understand); there's a lengthy discussion of the complicated work that went into getting child care providers united off the ground in california, which requires one to poke the legal definition of a union; we spend time with workers in a fast food joint in a small west virginia town who tried to organize. this stuff is engaging and thoughtfully reported. there's also a bunch of reflection from nolan's own involvement in organizing his workplace, back when he worked at gawker. (i think the book was written before the bottom completely fell out of online journalism, because he doesn't really talk about the fate of the efforts to unionize online journalism, just takes a moment to dunk on the people who said it couldn't be done.)

i've never been in a union, but i liked what he said about being in his: that you argue a lot, it's frustrating, but it's also a kind of direct & immediate democracy that you don't really see anywhere else. there's a bit where a shop steward for the culinary union in a huge vegas casino stops to write down that the casino changed the layout of the gelato case and the workers there don't like it, which was memorable to me because i thought it was such a concise & specific & convincing argument for the idea of a union, even in the absence of glaring abuses. i vividly remember having stupid problems at work because someone who had a nice office & no idea what i did all day had had some kind of clever thought, & having no particular recourse in those situations; i would have loved to have some sort of formal avenue to go, 'hey, chucklefuck, you added fifty cents to all the prices but didn't give me any change in my cash drawer, fix your shit' or whatever.

anyway! that stuff was cool. i struggled a little more with nolan's political vision of the american labor union. the book ends with this like, long meditation on what labor needs to do (organize more workers) and speculation about why that doesn't happen (workers in unions want to protect what they have and aren't directly motivated to invest in organizing new workers, even though, as sara nelson puts it, power grows when you use it; there's no actual system to catch workers who are thinking about unionizing & connect them to local unions in their sector who can help). i found this part kind of preachy & historically vapid. nolan spends time on two failed union campaigns (the west virginia fast food place, and one guy in new orleans who tried to unionize his lowe's store), and in both of them workers tried to organize because of existing ideological commitments. one of the west virginia workers 'always wears a red bandana,' which, nolan explains to us, is part of west virginia's radical labor history & the legacy of the battle of blair mountain. the lone hero who tried to unionize lowe's did so because he knew about unions from marxist friends. it feels very strange to say, here are these two workers who got some genuine momentum rolling on unionization campaigns because of their political backgrounds (well, i'm counting the red bandana, even though WV politics can get weird; you can thank socialists a hundred years ago for the fact that we have any records of blair mountain at all, and socialists & their allies of ten years ago for the fact that the battle site wasn't stripped for coal), and then just. you know. completely ignore the aggressive anticommunist turn of american labor politics in the last century. we discuss john l. lewis, we criticize the AFL-CIO's disconnection from marginalized workers & the continued membership of police unions, but we just don't mention this turn at all, even though the book is called, you know, 'the hammer'? weird choice! it talks about the connection between labor unions & democrats, mostly to say that these relationships have been transactional (we push for better policies for you, you get your members out to knock on doors & vote), but that they don't have to be, and then, um, talked about how great it was that UNITE HERE was canvassing. so i think that was going somewhere but maybe it wasn't going as decisively as i might've liked

overall i thought 'the hammer' was a pretty good time & a lot of it was very interesting. i would not call its political analysis incisive, and also it doesn't spend nearly enough time on labor safety. it mentions black lung briefly though so points there too

[notjustanyannie]

California will raise the minimum wage for health care workers to $25 per hour over the next decade under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday.

The new law is the second minimum wage increase Newsom has signed. Last month, he signed a law raising the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour.

Both wage increases are the result of years of lobbying by labor unions, which have significant sway in the state’s Democratic-dominated Legislature.

[iww-gnv]

A new era of labor activism unfolds in California as fast-food workers and Disneyland performers rally behind unions demanding better working conditions and fair pay. New legislation mandates a $20/hour minimum wage, sparking the formation of the California Fast Food Workers Union and the proposed 'Magic United' union for Disneyland performers.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

How unions won a 30% raise for every fast food worker in California

Tonight (September 14), I'm hosting the EFF Awards in San Francisco. On September 22, I'm (virtually) presenting at the DIG Festival in Modena, Italy.

Anything that can't go on forever will eventually stop. 40 years of declining worker power shattered the American Dream (TM), producing multiple generations whose children fared worse than their parents, cratering faith in institutions and hope for a better future.

The American neoliberal malaise – celebrated in by "centrists" who insisted that everything was fine and nothing could be changed – didn't just lead to a sense of helplessness, but also hopelessness. Denialism and nihilism are Siamese twins, and the YOLO approach to the climate emergency, covid mitigation, the housing crisis and other pressing issues can't be disentangled from the Thatcherite maxim that "There is NoA lternative." If there's no alternative, then we're doomed. Dig a hole, climb inside, pull the dirt down on top of yourself.

But anything that can't go on forever will eventually stop. For decades, leftists have taken a back seat to liberals in the progressive coalition, allowing "unionize!" to be drowned out by "learn to code!" The liberal-led coalition ceded the mantle of radical change to fake populist demagogues on the right.

This opened a space for a mirror-world politics that insisted that "conservatives" were the true defenders of women (because they were transphobes), of bodily autonomy (because they were vaccine deniers), of the environment (because they opposed wind-farms) and of workers (because they opposed immigration):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/05/not-that-naomi/#if-the-naomi-be-klein-youre-doing-just-fine

Anything that can't go on forever will eventually stop. A new coalition dedicated to fighting corporate power has emerged, tackling capitalism's monopoly power, and the corruption and abuse of workers it enables. That coalition is global, it's growing, and it's kicking ass.

Case in point: California just passed a law that will give every fast-food worker in the state a 30% raise. This law represents a profound improvement to the lives of the state's poorest workers – workers who spend long hours feeding their neighbors, but often can't afford to feed themselves at the end of a shift.

But just as remarkable as the substance of this new law is the path it took – a path that runs through a new sensibility, a new vibe, that is more powerful than mere political or legal procedure. The story is masterfully told in The American Prospect by veteran labor writer Harold Meyerson:

https://prospect.org/labor/2023-09-13-half-million-california-workers-get-raise/

The story starts with Governor Newsom signing a bill to create a new statewide labor-business board to mediate between workers and bosses, with the goal of elevating the working conditions of the state's large, minimum-wage workforce. The passage of this law triggered howls of outrage from the state's fast-food industry, who pledged to spend $200m to put forward a ballot initiative to permanently kill the labor-business board.

This is a familiar story. In 2019, California's state legislature passed AB-5, a bill designed to end the gig-work fiction that people whose boss is an algorithm are actually "independent businesses," rather than employees. AB5 wasn't perfect – it swept up all kinds of genuine freelancers, like writers who contributed articles to many publications – but the response wasn't aimed at fixing the bad parts. It was designed to destroy the good parts.

After AB-5, Uber and Lyft poured more than $200m into Prop 22, a ballot initiative designed to permanently bar the California legislature from passing any law to protect "gig workers." Prop 22's corporate backers flooded the state with disinformation, and procured a victory in 2020. The aftermath was swift and vicious, with Prop 22 used as cover in mass-firings of unionized workers across the state's workforce:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/05/manorialism-feudalism-cycle/#prop22

Workers and the politicians who defend them were supposed to be crushed by Prop 22. Its message was "there is no alternative." "Abandon hope all ye who enter here." "Resistance is futile." Prop 22 was worth spending $200m on because it wouldn't just win this fight – it would win all fights, forever.

But that's not what happened. When the fast-food barons announced that they were going to pump another $200m into a state ballot initiative to kill fair wages for food service workers, they got a hell of a surprise. SEIU – a union that has long struggled to organize fast-food workers – collaborated with progressive legislators to introduce a pair of new, even further-reaching bills.

One bill would have made the corporate overseers of franchise businesses jointly liable for lawbreaking by franchisees – so if a McDonald's restaurant owner stole their employees' wages, McDonalds corporate would also be on the hook for the offense. The second bill would restore funding and power to the state Industrial Welfare Commission, which once routinely intervened to set wages and working standards in many state industries:

https://www.gtlaw-laborandemployment.com/2023/08/the-california-iwc-whats-old-is-new-again/

Fast-food bosses fucked around, and boy did they find out. Funding for the IWC passed the state budget, and the franchisee joint liability is set to pass the legislature this week. The fast-food bosses cried uncle and begged Newsom's office for a deal. In exchange for defunding the IWC and canceling the vote on the liability bill, the industry has agreed to an hourly wage increase for the state's 550,000 fast-food workers, from $15.50 to $20, taking effect in April.

The deal also includes annual raises of either 3.5% or the real rise in cost of living. It keeps the labor-management council that the original bill created (the referendum on killing that council has been cancelled). The council will include two franchisees, two fast food corporate reps, two union reps, two front-line fast-food workers and a member of the public. It will have the power to direct the state Department of Labor to directly regulate working conditions in fast-food restaurants, from health and safety to workplace violence.

It's been nearly a century since business/government/labor boards like this were commonplace. The revival is a step on the way to bringing back the practice of sectoral bargaining, where workers set contracts for all employers in an industry. Sectoral bargaining was largely abolished through the dismantling of the New Deal, though elements of it remain. Entertainment industry unions are called "guilds" because they bargain with all the employers in their sector – which is why all of the Hollywood studios are being struck by SAG-AFTRA and the WGA.

So what changed between 2020 – when rideshare bosses destroyed democratic protections for workers by flooding the zone with disinformation to pass Prop 22 – and 2023, when the fast food bosses folded like a cheap suit? It wasn't changes to the laws governing ballot initiatives, nor was it a lack of ready capital for demolishing worker rights. Fast food executives weren't visited by three ghosts in the night who convinced them to care for their workers. Their hearts didn't grow by three sizes.

What changed was the vibe. The Hot Labor Summer was a rager, and it's not showing any signs of slowing. Obviously that's true in California, where nurses and hotel workers are also striking, and where strikebreaking companies like Instawork ("Uber for #scabs") attract swift regulatory sanction, rather than demoralized capitulation:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/30/computer-says-scab/#instawork

The hot labor summer wasn't a season – it was a turning point. Everyone's forming unions. Think of Equity Strip NoHo, the first strippers' union in a generation, which won recognition from their scumbag bosses at North Hollywood's Star Garden Club, who used every dirty trick to kill workplace democracy.

The story of the Equity Strippers is amazing. Two organizers, Charlie and Lilith, appeared on Adam Conover's Factually podcast to describe the incredible creativity and solidarity they used to win recognition, and the continuing struggle to get a contract out of their bosses, who are still fucking around and assuming they will not find out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fgXihmHIZk

Like the fast-food bosses, the Star Garden's owners are in for a surprise. One of the most powerful elements of the Equity Strippers' story is the solidarity of their customers. Star Garden's owners assumed that their clientele were indiscriminate, horny assholes who didn't care about the wellbeing of the workers they patronized, and would therefore cross a picket-line because parts is parts.

Instead, the bar's clientele sided with the workers. People everywhere are siding with workers. A decade ago, when video game actors voted on a strike, the tech workers who coded the games were incredibly hostile to them. "Why should you get residuals for your contribution to this game when we don't?"

But SAG-AFTRA members who provide voice acting for games just overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike, and this time the story is very different. This time, tech workers are ride-or-die for their comrades in the sound booths:

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-09-13/video-game-voice-actor-sag-strike-interactive-agreement-actors-strike

What explains the change in tech workers' animal sentiments? Well, on the one hand, labor rights are in the air. The decades of cartoonish, lazy dismissals of labor struggles have ended. And on the other hand, tech workers have been proletarianized, with 260,000 layoffs in the sector, including 12,000 layoffs at Google that came immediately after a stock buyback that would have paid those 12,000 salaries for the next 27 years:

https://doctorow.medium.com/the-proletarianization-of-tech-workers-ad0a6b09f7e6

Larry Lessig once laid out a theory of change that holds that our society is governed by four forces: law (what's legal), norms (what's socially acceptable), markets (what's profitable) and code (what's technologically possible):

https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs181/projects/2010-11/CodeAndRegulation/about.html

These four forces interact. When queer relationships were normalized, it made it easier to legalize them, too – and then the businesses that marriage equality became both a force for more normalization and legal defense.

When Lessig formulated this argument, much of the focus was on technology – how file-sharing changed norms, which changed law. But as the decades passed, I've come to appreciate what the argument says about norms, the conversations we have with one another.

Neoliberalism wants you to think that you're an individual, not a member of a polity. Neoliberalism wants you to bargain with your boss as a "free agent," not a union member. It wants you to address the climate emergency by recycling more carefully – not by demanding laws banning single-use plastics. It wants you to fight monopolies by shopping harder – not by busting trusts.

But that's not what we're doing – not anymore. We're forming unions. We're demanding a Green New Deal. And we're busting some trusts. The DoJ Antitrust Division case against Google is the (first) trial of the century, reviving the ancient and noble practice of fighting monopolies with courts, not empty platitudes.

The trial is incredible, and Yosef Weitzman's reporting on Big Tech On Trial is required reading. I'm following it closely (thankfully, there's a fulltext RSS feed):

https://www.bigtechontrial.com/p/what-makes-google-great

The neoliberal project of instilling learned helplessness about corporate power has hit the wall, and it's wrecked. The same norms that made us furious enough to put Google on trial are the norms that made us angry – not cynical – about Clarence Thomas's bribery scandals:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/06/clarence-thomas/#harlan-crow

And they're the same norms that made us support our striking comrades, from hotel housekeepers to Hollywood actors, from strippers to Starbucks baristas:

https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/09/13/Starbucks-Workers-Back-At-Strike/

Yes, Starbucks baristas. The Starbucks unions that won hard-fought recognition drives are now fighting the next phase of corporate fuckery: Starbucks corporate's refusal to bargain for a contract. Starbucks is betting that if they just stall long enough, the workers who support the union will move on and they'll be able to go back to abusing their workers without worrying about a union.

They're fucking around, and they're finding out. Starbucks workers at two shops in British Columbia – Clayton Crossing in Surrey and Valley Centre in Langley – have authorized strikes with a 91% majority:

https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/09/13/Starbucks-Workers-Back-At-Strike/

Where did the guts to do this come from? Not from labor law, which remains disgustingly hostile to workers (though that's changing, as we'll see below). It came from norms. It came from getting pissed off and talking about it. Shouting about it. Arguing about it.

Laws, markets and code matter, but they're nothing without norms. That's why Uber and Lyft were willing to spend $200m to fight fair labor practices. They didn't just want to keep their costs low – they wanted to snuff out the vibe, the idea that workers deserve a fair deal.

They failed. The idea didn't die. It thrived. It merged with the idea that corporations and the wealthy corrupt our society. It was joined by the idea that monopolies harm us all. They're losing. We're winning.

The BC Starbucks workers secured 91% majorities in their strike votes. This is what worker power looks like. As Jane McAlevey writes in her Collective Bargain, these supermajorities – ultramajorities – are how we win.

https://doctorow.medium.com/a-collective-bargain-a48925f944fe

The neoliberal wing of the Democratic party hires high-priced consultants who advise them to seek 50.1% margins of victory – and then insist that nothing can be done because we live in the Manchin-Synematic Universe, where razor-thin majorities mean that there is no alternative. Labor organizers fight for 91% majorities – in the face of bosses' gerrymandering, disinformation and voter suppression – and get shit done.

Shifting the norms – having the conversations – is the tactic, but getting shit done is the goal. The Biden administration – a decidedly mixed bag – has some incredible, technically skilled, principled fighters who know how to get shit done. Take Lina Khan, who revived the long-dormant Section 5 of the Federal Trade Act, which gives her broad powers to ban "unfair and deceptive" practices:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/10/the-courage-to-govern/#whos-in-charge

Khan's wielding this broad power in all kinds of exciting ways. For example, she's seeking a ban on noncompetes, a form of bondage that shackles workers to shitty bosses by making it illegal to work for anyone else in the same industry:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/02/its-the-economy-stupid/#neofeudal

Noncompete apologists argue that these merely protect employers' investment in training and willingness to share sensitive trade secrets with employees. But the majority of noncompetes are applied to fast food workers – yes, the same workers who just won a 30%, across-the-board raise – in order to prevent Burger King cashiers from seeking $0.25/hour more at a local Wendy's.

Meanwhile, the most trade-secret intensive, high-training industry in the world – tech – has no noncompetes. That's not because tech bosses are good eggs who want to do right by their employees – it's because noncompetes are banned in California, where tech is headquartered.

But in other states, where noncompetes are still allowed, bosses have figured out how to use them as a slippery slope to a form of bondage that beggars the imagination. I'm speaking of the Training Repayment Agreement Provision (AKA, the TRAP), a contractual term that forces workers who quit or get fired to pay their ex-bosses tens of thousands of dollars, supposedly to recoup the cost of training them:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/08/04/its-a-trap/#a-little-on-the-nose

Now, TRAPs aren't just evil, they're also bullshit. Bosses show pet-groomers or cannabis budtenders a few videos, throw them a three-ring binder, and declare that they've received a five-figure education that they must repay if they part ways with their employers. This gives bosses broad latitude to abuse their workers and even order them to break the law, on penalty of massive fines for quitting.

If this sounds like an Unfair Labor Practice to you, you're not alone. NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo agrees with you. She's another one of those Biden appointees with a principled commitment to making life better for American workers, and the technical chops to turn that principle into muscular action.

In a case against Juvly Aesthetics – an Ohio-based chain of "alternative medicine" and "aesthetic services" – Abruzzo argues that noncompetes and TRAPs are Unfair Labor Practices that violate the National Labor Relations Act and cannot be enforced:

https://www.nlrb.gov/case/09-CA-300239

Two ex-Juvly employees have been hit with $50-60k "repayment" bills for quitting – one after refusing to violate Ohio law by performing "microneedling," another for quitting after having their wages stolen and then refusing to sign an "exit agreement":

https://prospect.org/labor/2023-09-14-nlrb-complaint-calls-noncompete-agreement-unfair-labor-practice/

If the NLRB wins, the noncompete and TRAP clauses in the workers' contracts will be voided, and the workers will get fees, missed wages, and other penalties. More to the point, the case will set the precedent that noncompetes are generally unenforceable nationwide, delivering labor protection to every worker in every sector in America.

Abruzzo has been killing it lately: just a couple weeks ago, she set a precedent that any boss that breaks labor law during a union drive automatically loses, with instant recognition for the union as a penalty (rather than a small fine, as was customary):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/06/goons-ginks-and-company-finks/#if-blood-be-the-price-of-your-cursed-wealth

Abruzzo is amazing – as are her colleagues at the NLRB, FTC, DOJ, and other agencies. But the law they're making is downstream of the norms we set. From the California lawmakers who responded to fast food industry threats by introducing more regulations to the strip-bar patrons who refused to cross the picket-line to the legions of fans dragging Drew Barrymore for scabbing, the public mood is providing the political will for real action:

https://www.motherjones.com/media/2023/09/drew-barrymores-newest-role-scab/

The issues of corruption, worker rights and market concentration can't – and shouldn't – be teased apart. They're three facets of the same fight – the fight against oligarchy. Rarely do those issues come together more clearly than in the delicious petard-hoisting of Dave Clark, formerly the archvillain of Amazon, and now the victim of its bullying.

As Maureen Tkacik writes for The American Prospect, Clark had a long and storied career as Amazon's most vicious and unassuming ghoul, a sweatervested, Diet-Coke-swilling normie whose mild manner disguised a vicious streak a mile wide:

https://prospect.org/power/2023-09-14-catch-us-if-you-can-dave-clark-amazon/

Clark earned his nickname, "The Sniper," as a Kentucky warehouse supervisor; the name came from his habit of "lurking in the shadows [and] scoping out slackers he could fire." Clark created Amazon Flex, the "gig work" version of Amazon delivery drivers where randos in private vehicles were sent out to delivery parcels. Clark also oversaw tens of millions of dollars in wage-theft from those workers.

We have Clark to thank for the Amazon drivers who had to shit in bags and piss in bottles to make quota. Clark was behind the illegal union-busting tactics used against employees in the Bessamer, Alabama warehouse. We have Clark to thank for the Amazon chat app that banned users from posting the words "restroom," "slave labor," "plantation," and "union":

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/05/doubleplusrelentless/#quackspeak

But Clark doesn't work for Amazon anymore. After losing a power-struggle to succeed Jeff Bezos – the job went to "longtime rival" Andy Jassy – he quit and went to work for Flexport, a logistics company that promised to provide sellers that used non-Amazon services with shipping. Flexport did a deal with Shopify, becoming its "sole official logistics partner."

But then Shopify did another logistics deal – with Amazon. Clark was ordered to tender his resignation or face immediate dismissal.

How did all this happen? Well, there are two theories. The first is that Shopify teamed up with Amazon to stab Flexport in the back, then purged all the ex-Amazonians from the Flexport upper ranks. The other is that Clark was a double-agent, who worked with Amazon to sabotage Flexport, and was caught and fired.

But either way, this is a huge win for Amazon, a monopolist who is in the FTC's crosshairs thanks to the anti-corporate vibe-shift that has consumed the nation and the world. As the sole major employer for this kind of logistics, Amazon is a de facto labor regulator, deciding who can work in the sector. The FTC's enforcement action isn't just about monopoly – it's about labor.

Now, Clark is a rich, powerful white dude, not the sort of person who needs a lot of federal help to protect his labor rights. When liberals called the shot in the progressive coalition, they scolded leftists not to speak of class, but rather to focus on identity – to be intersectionalists.

That was a trick. There's no incompatibility between caring about class and caring about gender, race and sexual orientation. Those fast food workers who are about to get a 30% wage-hike in California? Overwhelmingly Black or brown, overwhelmingly female.

The liberal version of intersectionalism observes a world run by 150 rich white men and resolves to replace half of them with women, queers and people of color. The leftist version seeks to abolish the system altogether. The leftist version of intersectionalism cares about bias and discrimination not just because of how it makes people feel, but because of how it makes them live. It cares about wages, housing, vacations, child care – the things you can't get because of your identity.

The fight for social justice is a fight for worker justice. Eminently guillotineable monsters like Tim "Avocado Toast" Gurner advocate for increasing unemployment by "40-50%" – but Gurner is just saying what other bosses are thinking:

https://jacobin.com/2023/09/tim-gurner-capitalists-neoliberalism-unemployment-precarity

Garner is 100% right when he says: "There’s been a systematic change where employees feel the employer is extremely lucky to have them, as opposed to the other way around."

And then he says this: "So it’s a dynamic that has to change. We’ve got to kill that attitude, and that has to come through hurt in the economy."

Garner knows that the vibes are upstream of the change. The capitalist dream starts with killing our imagination, to make us believe that "there is no alternative." If we can dream bigger than "better representation among oligarchs" when we might someday dream of no oligarchs. That's what he fears the most.

Watch the video of Garner. Look past the dollar-store Gordon Gecko styling. That piece of shit is terrified.

And he should be.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/14/prop-22-never-again/#norms-code-laws-markets

EFF Awards, San Francisco, September 14

[spiritofincredible]

Rachel Berliner: Fraud Allegations Fact-Checked (2024)

Not all businesses that tout themselves as vegetarian and organic are necessarily sustainable or socially responsible. Take Nestlé, for example. Despite its expansion into plant-based foods like Freshly’s Purely Plant, Garden Gourmet, and Sweet Earth, the Swiss food giant has faced accusations of deforestation, questionable water sourcing, and child exploitation.

Then there’s Amy’s Kitchen, a well-known organic vegetarian food brand that has been dishing out affordable, nutritious ready-to-eat meals since 1987. However, recent allegations of unsafe working conditions in its California factory have led to calls for boycotts against the company.

Rachel Berliner, along with her husband Andy, kickstarted their family-run venture by selling organic vegetarian pot pies from their home in Petaluma, California. Naming the business after their daughter Amy, they’ve grown it into a $600 million food empire renowned for its canned soups and ubiquitous presence in the frozen food aisle, offering a variety of pizzas, pasta dishes, and burgers. With fast-food outlets across California and over 200 vegetarian products sold in more than 30 countries, Amy’s has made its mark in the industry.

Among Amy’s frozen delights, their fan-favorite burritos stand out with their rustic packaging. According to the Teamsters Local Union 665, the largest union in the US, Amy’s employees roll a staggering ten of these mouthwatering plant-based burritos per minute.

But behind the scenes, there’s a different story. Flor Menjivar, a five-year employee at Amy’s, disclosed to Sliced that she’s rolled up to 12 burritos per minute, pushing her body to its limits due to discomfort.

Despite Amy’s claim on its website that “goodness” is their only guiding principle, this year has cast doubt on that altruistic image. Reports of unsafe working conditions, including blocked fire exits, worn-out floor mats, faulty equipment, and inadequate training, have surfaced, prompting many to criticize the company and call for a boycott of its products.

Amy’s Kitchen has faced a boycott due to allegations of worker abuse and injuries.

The San Francisco-based, family-owned Amy’s Kitchen brand has earned a reputation as the antithesis of numerous nameless major food companies throughout its 35-year history.

Renowned for its use of organic ingredients and diverse range of canned and frozen foods catering to vegetarians and vegans, including gluten-free bean burritos and thin-crust cheese pizzas in the Neapolitan style, Amy’s has carved a niche in the market.

The company’s mom-and-pop ethos is literal: CEO Andy Berliner and his wife Rachel Berliner started the business in the milk barn of their family’s ranch in Northern California, naming it after their young daughter, Amy. Their commitment to simplicity is reflected in their mantra: “If Amy can’t pronounce the name of the ingredient, you won’t find it on any of our labels.”

Amy’s is also known for publicly acknowledging and rewarding its employees. In a February Facebook post, Rachel Berliner emphasized the company’s dedication to employee welfare and environmental stewardship, which she claims has always been central to Amy’s ethos.

However, despite its wholesome image, the company, which has expanded to include approximately 3,000 employees and facilities in California, Oregon, and Idaho, has recently faced allegations that are at odds with its reputation.

Reports of bullying, mistreatment of employees, and unsafe working conditions at its Santa Rosa, California, facility have surfaced, resulting in several injuries and sparking calls for a boycott.

Complaints filed with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health and challenges to the company’s B Corp status, which recognizes businesses for high social and environmental performance, have added to Amy’s woes. The company has vehemently denied many of the allegations, but Cal/OSHA has yet to officially address the complaints or release its findings.

Amidst the turmoil, a boycott spearheaded by various activist groups, including the Food Empowerment Project and Veg Magas, has gained momentum. Independent grocery stores, such as Mandela Grocery Cooperative in Oakland, California, and Earth’s General Store in Edmonton, Alberta, have removed Amy’s products from their shelves in solidarity with the boycott.

Rachel Berliner has attempted to shift the blame for the boycott onto the Teamsters, claiming that the negative campaign led by the union has left employees “saddened and scared.” However, Lauren Ornelas, founder of the Food Empowerment Project, asserts that customers are finding it difficult to reconcile Amy’s reputation with its alleged behavior, and calls for accountability.

Experts suggest that the disconnect between Amy’s image and its actions may make the boycott more effective, potentially damaging the brand’s reputation and prompting a change in behavior. Devoted customers, who are deeply invested in Amy’s values, may be particularly affected by the company’s alleged misconduct and could sway the company to address the issues at hand.

Despite their loyalty, customers are increasingly prioritizing ethical considerations over brand loyalty, signaling a potential reckoning for Amy’s Kitchen unless it addresses the concerns raised by its employees and activists.

How do Andy Berliner and Rachel Berliner respond?

Andy Berliner and Rachel Berliner are adamant in their response to the accusations. They refute the allegations, stating that the Santa Rosa factory has 16 water stations, all fire doors are unlocked, and employees are free to use the restroom whenever needed, as conveyed in an Instagram post from March.

Additionally, they announced that the company plans to invest an extra $50 million in safety-related projects over the next five years. Amy’s Kitchen addressed the claims of unsafe working conditions at their Santa Rosa and San Jose facilities in a blog post on their website, echoing the sentiments shared in Berliner’s Instagram post. Rachel Berliner firmly denies the allegations of denying restroom breaks, union interference, and lack of drinking water, stating that they are completely false.

In response to inquiries from the Vegetarian Times, Berliner expressed willingness to meet with any union representative once they have gained the right to speak for their employees. However, Teamsters informed Sliced that Berliner has yet to agree to a meeting.

[themfp1]

Minimum Wage Folly

By: John Stossel California now leads the nation in imposing dumb wage laws. The state just raised the hourly minimum wage for fast food workers to $20. Gov. Gavin Newsom said, “We saw the inequities. … we had a responsibility to do more.” Unions pushed for the higher minimum, and in Democrat-run states, unions usually get what they want. CNN announced, “Half a million California fast food…

[fadingsunsjvj]

California fast-food workers are forming a unique kind of union

https://www.fastcompany.com/91025151/california-fast-food-workers-are-forming-a-unique-kind-of-union

[smokeybrand]

Wage Slavery

Bro, if this $20 minimum wage for fast food workers which California started, makes your business unsustainable, you need to reevaluate your business practices. If your business can't survive when giving your workers a wage which allows them to eat AND pay rent within the same month, maybe your business should fail. Y'all realize they do this in other countries, right? They've been doing this in the Nords for decades. Not only do they get that sweet, sweet, hourly, but they are privy to all the same protections and rights afforded to them by those strong ass euro unions. How is it they make it work over yonder but it's such a huge issue here, Stateside? Why is it a way of life out there, where conglomerates and franchises are forced to pay for actual, real, food to make their McDoubles, and still have their prices stay comparable to ours before the wage hike, and the US let's McDonalds feed us fetid baboon butt cheeks? They pay less for materials and charge us more for trash, saying they have to because they are being forced not to pay a slave wage, and people really hear that and carry water for such an egregious affront to basic human decency? really? Like, those people don't deserve not to struggle because they flip burgers instead of swing a hammer? How f*cking disrespectful is that?

There are actual people out here really buying into that whole "skilled/unskilled" myth. Like, bro, you're as exploited as kid on that fryer. Don't be mad because they are finally getting not-a-poverty wage. Be mad your boss is paying you less than you're worth and find someone who will, the f*ck?

[stevishabitat]

Fast food workers are losing their jobs in California as new minimum wage law takes effect

ast food workers are losing their jobs in California as more restaurant chains prepare to meet a new $20 minimum wage set to go into effect next week. Restaurants making cuts are mostly pizzerias, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal. Multiple businesses have plans to axe hundreds of jobs, as well as cut back hours and freeze hiring, the report shows. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Fast Act back in September to require fast food chains with 60 or more locations nationwide to meet that wage increase after labor unions fought for it alongside the healthcare industry, which will also see a boost to earnings in June. "This is a big deal," Newsom said alongside union members in September. "That's 80% of the workforce." Layoffs began last year Pizza Hut is laying off more than 1,000 delivery drivers in California, according to federal and state filings. Fast-food workers in the state are set to get a pay bump in April 2023 as the minimum wages rises from $16 to $20 an hour. Pizza Hut announced cuts to more than 1,200 delivery jobs in December, previous reporting by USA TODAY shows. Some Pizza Hut franchises in California also filed notices with the state saying they were discontinuing their delivery services entirely, according to Fox Business. "The franchisee is transferring their delivery services to third-party. While it is unfortunate, we look at this as a transfer of jobs," Pizza Hut told Fox. "As you know, many California restaurant operators are following the same approach due to rising operating costs." Round Table Pizza will lay off around 1,280 delivery drivers this year in the Golden State, and Excalibur Pizza has plans to cut 73 driver jobs, as well as 21% of its workforce in April, a state filling obtained by The Wall Street Journal shows. USA TODAY has reached out to all pizza chains for comment. No exemptions, Newsom says The legislation indicated that businesses that “feature ice cream, coffee, boba tea, pretzels, or donuts” could meet the definition of a “fast food restaurant covered by the law," according to The National Law Review's breakdown of the bill. The law could extend to similar businesses that provide things like sweets and drinks. Greg Flynn, who has monopoly over Panera franchises in California, tried to get out of the state's new mandate earlier this year, according to Bloomberg, holding fast to a loophole that restaurants making in-house bread do not have to boost employee earnings. Newsom's office called the claim "absurd," telling the Los Angeles Times that the restaurant chain would see no such exemption. Chipotle's CFO told Yahoo Finance that the company will be forced to increase their prices to comply with the minimum wage increase. Starbucks told the outlet it is evaluating the impact of the Fast Act but did not comment on whether or not it would comply. It is unclear whether or not the franchise would be considered a "fast food restaurant" under the new legislation. Starbucks has committed to at least a 3% increase to wages that went into effect ON Jan. 1, according to a statement put out by the company. The coffee chain did recently close seven of its stores in the state of California, USA TODAY previously reported.

[ramtracking]

Fast food workers are losing their jobs in California as new minimum wage law takes effect [ California ]

Fast food workers are losing their jobs in California as new minimum wage law takes effect [News Summary] Among the chains announcing cuts ahead of a $4 increase to the minimum wage in California are Pizza Hut and Round Table Pizza. “It’s upsetting that someone can write a law like this, hand it over to unions, and walk away from it.” A California state law is set to raise fast-food workers’…