LOS ANGELES (CNS) — Los Angeles City Councilman Hugo Soto Martinez introduced a motion Tuesday aimed at giving the city’s fast-food workers more stable work schedules and paid time off.
Soto-Martinez’s Fast Food Fair Labor Ordinance would expand the city’s Fair Work Week ordinance, which would become law in 2022 and require employers to communicate work schedules to retail employees in advance. The ordinance covers about 2,500 major fast food chains and their roughly 50,000 employees.
The city’s existing regulations also require companies to give workers at least 10 hours of rest between shifts or pay them appropriate compensation.
The new proposal would require six hours of paid training to educate fast-food workers on their labor rights and give them one hour of paid vacation for every 30 hours they work.
“What we’re introducing today is to give respect to those who until now have not been given that respect through city laws,” Mayor Soto Martinez said at a news conference outside City Hall.
The city councilman’s proposal drew pushback from members of the Save Local Restaurants coalition, which includes restaurateurs, business associations and fast-food brands, who say the proposal would threaten the survival of local restaurants and the cost of drive-thru meals for already struggling families.
“Nearly a decade ago, I opened my first Jersey Mike’s franchise to build a future for my family and leave a legacy and a strong business for my children, and I fear that now is in jeopardy,” JuanCarlos Chacon, owner of nine Jersey Mike’s locations in Los Angeles, said in a statement. “Since the state minimum wage increased, I have had to increase menu prices and cut employee hours to make ends meet.”
“We cannot afford the additional costs without making drastic changes, including closing one or more stores,” he added. “I hope the Los Angeles City Council rejects this very bad proposal that will not only hurt our franchisees, but also the workers who will ultimately lose their jobs.”
Soto Martinez said the proposal is aimed at giving fast-food workers more time to spend with family and friends and attend weddings, doctor’s appointments and other important events.
The California Fast Food Workers Union and the Service Employees International Union support the proposal.
“Too many people don’t know their rights or know where to report workplace violations,” said Jayleen Rubet, a McDonald’s employee and member of the California Fast Food Workers Union. “Too many people don’t have stable housing because of unpredictable schedules…Today, the door is opening for change.”
The Los Angeles County Labor Federation also supported the proposal.
In 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1228, which established a statewide fast food council and created a minimum wage increase of $20 an hour for fast food workers. The law went into effect in April.
According to Soto Martinez’s office, the law has created about 10,600 new jobs in California’s fast-food industry.
But the fast-food industry says the law is forcing them to raise menu prices, hurting their business.
“We’ve been forced to cut our employees’ hours by 10 percent and raise our prices to accommodate the state minimum wage increase. We just can’t afford any more costs,” said Behzad (Ben) Salehi, who owns Blaze Pizza franchises in Northridge and Encino. “These unnecessary, costly and duplicative ordinances are discouraging small business owners from expanding within the City of Los Angeles. Enough is enough. Stop attacking small business owners like us who create jobs and bring revenue to the City.”
Soto-Martinez’s proposal will be considered in a City Council committee before a final vote at the full City Council meeting.
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