California fast-food workers on one-day walkout to protest attempted repeal of new labor law
Hundreds of fast-food workers in Sacramento and across the state walked off the job Tuesday to demand that giants like McDonald’s, In-N-Out Burger and Chipotle drop their campaign to repeal a new law creating a government-run labor council for the industry.
The council would have the power to set pay and working conditions for hundreds of thousands of employees, giving them greater power in a low-wage sector of the economy.
A first for America’s fast-food industry, the 10-member council’s decisions would apply to any chain with at least 100 locations nationwide.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 257, the The FAST Recovery Act, on Labor Day. One day later though, the industry launched a referendum to overturn it.
Save Local Restaurants, a coalition of fast-food corporations and their franchisees, contends that the new law would lead to higher prices, a claim it has branded it as a “food tax.” They argue that their industry is already heavily regulated by the state and that a fast-food commission would further encroach on their right to independently operate their businesses.
The group needs to collect 623,000 valid signatures — 5% of the total votes in the last gubernatorial election — by Dec. 4 to place the measure repealing AB 257 on the 2024 ballot. Save Local Restaurants announced they had reached nearly half a million signatures last month.
“California voters should have a say in whether they shoulder the burden of higher prices and job losses this law will cause,” the Coalition said in a statement Tuesday.
Should the proposed repeal qualify for the ballot it could pause enforcement of the legislation — which is effective Jan. 1 — for nearly two years until voters decide.
AB 257 requires workers to gather at least 10,000 signatures from fast-food employees across the state to show grassroots support for the council. They collected nearly 17,500 signatures and submitted them Tuesday to the California Department of Industrial Relations.
“We knew that we wanted it with such conviction that we (nearly) doubled the amount of signatures – that proved how much we want it and need it,” said Sandro Flores, 25, a cashier at a Carl’s Jr. in south Los Angeles, in a phone interview on Friday.
During a rally at the Capitol Tuesday afternoon, workers staged a short bilingual play, accompanied by a Mariachi band, depicting their fight to preserve AB 257 against the industry measure.
“Drop the referendum — come to the table now!” the workers chanted.
Ingrid Villorio, a cook at a Jack-in-the-Box in Alameda County, hopped on a bus at 6 a.m. Tuesday to rally alongside other fast food workers in Sacramento. She was among the few workers from her store as many workers feared losing hours or their job. Villorio said she has begun looking for another job, presuming that her involvement may lead to termination.
“I am not going to stop talking because they (fast food corporations) want to you to submit and make you feel bad for asking for better conditions,” Villorio said in Spanish.
Villorio, who is working through the union-backed Fight For $15 campaign, encouraged workers to support the council to show corporations that they would not give up. She added workers are not against the fast-food industry and hope that it “continues to grow and allow workers to grow with it.”
Fighting the referendum
The protest Tuesday follows numerous allegations that the corporate-backed campaign deceived voters to obtain the signatures required to put the referendum on the ballot.
Service Employees International Union, which has been supporting the workers, submitted complaints to the Attorney General’s office and California’s secretary of state last month. The union alleges that the signature gathering process is “willfully misleading voters.” In videos taken by SEIU organizers, signature gatherers can be heard falsely telling people that they are trying to increase the minimum wage for workers.
“We didn’t resort to lies – we won, fair and square – so why won’t they sit down at the table with us?” Flores said.
Most days Flores is one of only three employees at his restaurant, along with a manager and a cook. Sometimes he goes back to the kitchen and helps prepare food when orders start piling up.
“I’m heartbroken that after all the work that we did, we still have to go on strike to prove a point that has been proven multiple times,” Flores said.
Even if the corporations won’t drop their referendum campaign, workers said on Tuesday they’re still committed to fighting for the council, because their livelihoods and well-being depend on it.
“Workers know that without them, these corporations do not exist,” said Theresa Rutherford, president of SEIU Local 1021, which supports the fast-food employees. “We know that what exists right now in the fast food setting is not in line with good working conditions — it’s unsafe, it’s backwards,” Rutherford continued.
“We have no choice but to fight.”
This story was originally published November 15, 2022 at 11:15 AM.
