Starting Monday, most California fast-food workers will earn at least $20 an hour — the highest minimum wage across the U.S. restaurant industry. Yet the pay hike is sparking furious debate, with some restaurant owners warning of job losses and higher prices for customers, while labor advocates tout the benefits of higher wages.
The new law, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom last fall, takes effect on April 1, requiring that fast-food chains with at least 60 locations nationwide pay workers at least $20 an hour. The means the state’s 553,000 fast-food workers will earn more than the state’s $16 minimum wage for all other industries.
The new baseline wage comes as the fast-food industry is seeing booming earnings, with big chains like McDonald’s enjoying strong revenue growth and wider profit margins in recent years. That’s partly due to menu prices that have far outpaced inflation, with fast-food costs surging 47% over the past decade, compared with an average of 29% for all other prices, according to a new analysis from the Roosevelt Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.
And the wild thing is that 20$/hr is not enough to live on for most people in most of California
Idk how anyone besides the wealthy survives in California. Someone sent me a job in my field starting at 150k in San Francisco. On paper, it would be really great money for what I do, but the cost of living would make it a poverty wage. I’m not interested in having 6 roommates at this point in my life.
100k w/four housemates is enough to eat, have fun, and save a wee bit in SF!
:) heh yeah wildly expensive. No accident the place is in high demand though 🌁🌉* And that’s in spite of parts of downtown feeling like they must be the fentanyl capital of the world. Western half of the city lives a different life than those stuck in e.g. the Tenderloin, very sad whether working class or homeless.
*emoji depict the Golden Gate Bridge at least on Apple devices
You should have taken it. You don’t need to live in SF. Plus lots of those jobs are work from home at least part of the time.
You can rent for a few years and then get a better job at a higher level. It’s worth it to set a new pay level that all other jobs have to beat.
I live in flyover country and I’m not sure that’s enough here anymore. My wife and I have been making over six figures (combined) for eight years now and things are a bit tight for our family of four.
One of our local stations news teams did a wage study and found that to “be able to live comfortably” a family of four needs to make $186,000.
In some parts of California, making less than $104k as a single person is considered low income.
$20 is not even a living wage for a family. And in California, that’s basically still a starvation wage. Better than nothing I guess. There should be a law along with this wage increase that prohibits these fuckers from
rasingraising their food prices.Luckily McDs is starting to feel the pinch from people forgoing their crap food for being too expensive. It would seem they’re starting to realize that people do have a limit on what they’ll spend on their “food”
Our government is so god damn weak. Corporations run this country with a jungle grip. Some people rag on Europe a lot, but they sure have much better governments than us by a long shot.
For now. All capitalism trends towards end stage. Reforms are just delay the inevitable, not prevent it entirely.
Think back to the 20th century labor movement. Could in your wildest dreams imagine such a movement occurring this day and age? But let’s just pretend everything goes perfect and we get a other similar labor movement right now. The best we can hope for is a temporary cease fire in the class war while the 1% works its way back into positions of power.
All the blood sweat and tears shed making the new deal were wasted. Flushed down the drain because they negotiated with financial terrorists. like trying to make peace with russia…
Capitalism always leads to the same dead end. Let’s try out something new. Maybe we haven’t even created the next way to live our lives yet? How could we find such a thing if we keep going around in a circle in this sarlac pit?
I went into McDonald’s a couple months ago on a rare craving whim. A Big Mac was almost $7.
If I’m going to pay $7 I’d rather go to Jack in the box or Carl’s Jr and get a better quality burger. I don’t see how the market allows them to get away with this. Who the fuck is paying this at McDonald’s?
Yeah the last couple of times I’ve been in a pinch and went through a fast food place for a basic burger value meal it was $11-$12, and I got the usual half-assed burger slopped together without the proper amount of toppings.
Bitches I can hop into a Cheddars and get a half pound monster that I can barely get into my mouth for $11.
Don’t give these assholes your money. Make your own food. That way you save a ton of money and not support these fuckers. Society will still thrive without shitdonald and the likes if they disappear.
Western Bacon Cheeseburger combo in the Los Angeles area now…
Maybe they should just try building some dense housing so the people making $20 got some where to live that’s not with 3 other people in a house built for 1
Can’t let good be the enemy of great
This will inevitably drive up the cost so high that Californians will be forced to survive entirely on Panera!
-conservatives, probably.
It won’t do shit since the starting pay is like $20-22 an hour even in the valley.
Unless your restaurant bakes fresh bread. Get ready for TacoBell’s new Doritos Loco Sourdough Baguette.Apparently this is bullshit. Although I would try dorito bread if someone made it.
Except for Panera who get a cut-out because the CEO is a childhood friend of Gavin Newsom. Like I’ve been saying for years: Democrats are just Republicans draped in a rainbow flag.
I thought that got scratched out? Either way yes these shouldn’t have targeted exceptions that don’t pass the smell test.
No they fucking aren’t.
This is misinformation. Panera has to follow the law apparently.
You know you’re not supposed to stick the Q-tip all the way into your ear, right?
