California officials plan to ask for another hike to the state’s controversial $20 minimum wage for fast food workers – despite the new law being blamed for higher menu prices and restaurant closings since it went into effect in April.
Members of the California Food Council, which lobbied successfully for the pay hike, are planning to seek an additional 3.5% raise when they meet at the end of the month, according to Restaurant Business.
The council was created by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Democrat who signed into law AB 1228 mandating that any quick service restaurant with at least 60 branches operating nationwide must pay its employees a minimum of $20 per hour — up from $16 an hour previously.
The California Fast Food Workers Union, which is affiliated with the Service Employers International Union (SEIU), holds four of the nine seats on the Fast Food Council.
Four other seats are held by franchise owners or lawyers representing popular chains El Pollo Loco, Taco Bell, Arby’s, Wendy’s and Krispy Kreme in the state.
The swing vote that couldl decide the matter is council chair Nicholas Hardeman, chief of staff for California Senate President pro Tempore Emeritus Toni G. Atkins.
Atkins, a Democrat from the San Diego area, is running for governor in 2026 to replace the term-limited Newsom.
The Post has sought comment from Hardeman.
In March, the union already declared its intention to seek the additional 3.5% hike, which would bump minimum pay to $20.70 an hour. If adopted, it would go into effect on Jan. 1.
The union also plans to push for additional changes, including limits on when fast food workers can be fired and a minimum number of hours an employer has to provide employees.
If the council approves the wage hike, it would expand the number of employees in managerial positions who are eligible to receive time-and-a-half overtime pay.
By law, salaried employees in California are entitled to overtime if their compensation equals less than double the hourly minimum wage in their field.
A salaried worker at a fast food restaurant earning less than $87,000 annually would thus be entitled to overtime if another wage hike is enacted.
A report published earlier this year by Kalinowski Equity Research found that fast food giants McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Chipotle, Starbucks and Taco Bell raised their menu prices by as much as 8% in preparation for the new minimum wage law kicking in April 1.
Franchise chains such as Rubio’s Coastal Grill and Fosters Freeze have had to shut down locations in California — with the rising cost of doing business cited as the reason.
