By Maya Miller
January 13, 2023 - The Sacramento Bee
California will again pause implementation of its first-in-the-nation council that would set pay and working standards for fast-food employees.
The state’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) sought to temporarily enact the landmark fast-food law known as AB 257, or the FAST Recovery Act, on Jan. 1 of this year. The department even requested funding for 19 jobs - nearly $8 million - from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest budget.
But on Friday, a Sacramento County Superior Court judge blocked that effort after the business coalition Save Local Restaurants sued the state.
The judge concluded that allowing the state to create the fast-food council would undermine the referendum process. Temporary enactment of the law could also introduce confusion and uncertainty for both workers and employees.
“There is no authority to support [the state’s] position that if elections officials are still working to verify referendum petition signatures, the subject law goes into effect until the signature verification process is complete,” read Judge Shelleyanne W.L. Chang’s ruling.
Although the Friday ruling did not decide the merits of the original lawsuit, it noted that the legal team for Save Local Restaurants “demonstrated a very high likelihood of success on the merits.” The group argued that enacting the law would violate California’s constitution and undermine the legitimacy of the referendum process. The attorneys also emphasized that a temporary enactment could cause wage fluctuation and would unfairly confuse workers and employers alike.
“Today’s Court decision protects the rights of over one million California voters who demanded their say on this law before bearing its burden,” wrote Save Local Restaurants in a statement Friday after the ruling was posted. “We appreciate the Court upholding the state’s 100-year-old referendum process as well as the well-established legal precedent that ensures California voters are able to consider the laws passed by their legislature.”
On the other side, DIR had argued that the law could go into effect temporarily until the counties verified that enough of the collected signatures were valid. Save Local Restaurants announced in December that it had collected enough signatures ・more than 1 million ・from California voters. Counties had up to 30 business days after the secretary of state’s office determined on Dec. 9 that petitioners had collected enough total signatures to place the law on the ballot.
DIR said in a brief e-mail early Friday evening that it would abide by the court order.
Fast-food workers expressed disappointment in the judge’s ruling Friday afternoon. But they vowed to keep fighting for representation and better working conditions.
“Every day AB 257 is kept on hold is another day that half a million fast-food workers across our state continue to face the threat of wage theft, sexual harassment, unsafe working conditions and more,” said Perla Hernandez, a Burger King employee in San Jose, said in a Friday statement.
“No matter how much companies like McDonald’s and Starbucks spend to try to silence our voices, we will keep up the fight until those corporations meet us at the table.”
Organizers with Service Employees International Union, which has supported the fast-food workers in their push for the fast-food council as well as union representation, echoed the workers’ resolve.
“No lawsuit and no threat of a referendum will stop workers from organizing in their workplaces and speaking out about the violence, discrimination, harassment, wage theft and retaliation they face on the job while being paid some of the lowest wages in the state,” said SEIU President Mary Kay Henderson in a statement Friday.If and when the Secretary of State’s office approves the referendum petition, California voters in 2024 will decide the fast-food council’s fate.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the FAST Recovery Act last year on Labor Day in a big win for labor advocates and the state’s hundreds of thousands of fast-food workers. The council’s regulations would apply to any chain restaurant with at least 100 locations in the United States and could set minimum wages at $22 an hour for workers.
But one day after the signing, opponents filed a referendum to halt formation of the council. What folllt fowed was a multi-million-dollar signature gathering campaign in which petitioners were accused of lying to voters and misrepresenting what the law does.
After the coalition submitted its signatures in early December, counties had eight business days to provide a count to the Secretary of State’s office. Opponents needed at least 623,000 valid signatures, which the office confirmed they had on Dec. 9.
Following the statewide count, each county then had 30 additional business days to verify that enough of the signatures were valid through random sampling. Sufficient valid voter signatures would place a question on the 2024 ballot asking voters whether the law should take effect.
That referendum could touch off a costly battle between organized labor and the fast food industry, with spending reaching hundreds of millions of dollars. Save Local Restaurants raised more than $13.7 million between last January and September. Corporate brands, including Starbucks, Chipotle and McDonald’s, have each given $2 million.
This story was originally published January 13, 2023 5:39 PM.