California’s fast-food industry calls for referendum on new labor legislation

theguardian.com:

The fast-food industry is seeking to overturn one of the most significant labor wins in recent American history by trying to scrap a new law in California that will establish an industry council for the sector on wage standards and other regulations, including safety.

The Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act, AB 257, was signed into law by the California governor, Gavin Newsom, on 5 September in what is seen as a huge fillip to a US labor movement seeking to capitalize on a wave of unionization drives.

The law paves the way for a statewide fast-food sector council that includes workers, state regulators, franchises and their parent companies to establish wage standards and other regulations for the industry in the state.

There are about 500,000 workers in the fast-food industry in California who will be represented under the law. It also provides a pathway for local municipalities to create their own similar councils overseeing the industry and to report to the statewide council. The law only applies to fast-food corporations with at least 100 retail locations nationwide under a common brand.

The law is the first of its kind in the US, with workers in other states pushing to pass similar legislation, such as nail salon workers in New York.

Fast-food workers have long reported widespread issues of violence on the job, sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation for reporting abuses or for organizing, wage theft and poverty wages. The new law has been touted as a means to start addressing these issues that run rampant through the industry. Fast-food workers around California held over 300 strikes in the past year to rally support in favor of the legislation.

As workers are now organizing to collect signatures