The bill would give labor advocates a long-elusive bargaining foothold in a low-wage industry that employs more than half a million non-unionized workers statewide.
Lawmakers pared back the bill significantly to push it toward final passage after several moderate Democratic Legislators balked at earlier proposals to give the new council sweeping regulatory authority over the industry. Lawmakers added a bevy of amendments last week to address the concerns of business owners.
In one major concession, lawmakers stripped out a provision that would have held fast food corporationsat franchise locations. The bill’s sponsor, Democratic Assemblymember Chris Holden of Pasadena, said that was a “significant piece” in swaying some colleagues. California in recent years has been extending this kind of labor law liability in other industries — from janitorial and gardening contractors to the building owners and firms that hire them, for example — as part of its efforts to combat wage theft. But fast food franchise corporations have long avoided that responsibility in federal and state labor law.
Even without that provision, labor leaders were calling the bill a victory. SEIU president Mary Kay Henry said at a rally outside the Capitol that the bill was a “watershed moment for working people.” Of particular significance: including workers on the council alongside industry representatives, said Columbia University labor law expert Kate Andrias.— Jot Condie, California Restaurant Association presidentfor other industries before to set minimum wages, particularly during the first half of the 20th century.
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