- The California Fast Food Workers Union is calling for the state's minimum wage to rise to $20.70.
- The union says the increase will help workers "keep up with inflation."
- Businesses are still adjusting to the latest hike, and this could be a breaking point.
Fresh off the heels of a major wage hike in April, California fast food workers are calling for a new one "to keep up with the rising cost of living."
The California Fast Food Workers Union presented its demand for a new wage of $20.70 (up from $20) at the first-ever meeting of the newly formed Fast Food Council, KTLA News reported. Annual cost-of-living adjustments are a common feature of labor contracts, and the new wage would take effect on January 1, 2025.
"It's always been about more than $20/hr, and we're just getting started," a CAFFWU memo shared with Business Insider said.
But the impact of the last (and more significant) raise — from $16 to $20 on April 1 — is still rippling through California's foodservice industry, with business leaders and labor organizers offering divergent narratives.
McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski told CNBC on Thursday sales have fallen off more in California than elsewhere in the US after the chain raised prices to pay for the wage increase. McDonald's previously lobbied against the law.
At Chipotle, CEO Brian Niccol said the law drove a 20% increase in earnings for its restaurant staff and that it raised menu prices by 6% to 7% in the state to offset that.
McDonald's and Chipotle didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Other fast-food chains have laid off workers, in some cases by closing restaurants altogether, citing the new rules.
Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics is not likely to satisfy either side: Before adjusting for seasonality, the state added more than 5,000 new fast food jobs between April and June, but the seasonally adjusted figure is a 3,000-job decline. The numbers are effectively flat over the past year.
Still, some fast food workers have praised the wage increase: "It's been really good because I can now put more food on the table and in my fridge and pay my rent on time, which was always a challenge," Wendy's employee Romualda Alcazar Cruz told KXTL in Spanish.
The union also said in the memo that it is seeking more stable scheduling as well as investigations into "abuses" including unsafe working conditions, harassment, discrimination, and wage theft.
The Fast Food Council next meets in September.
If you are a fast food worker in California who wants to share your perspective, please contact Dominick via email or text/call/Signal at 646.768.4750. Responses will be kept confidential, and Business Insider strongly recommends using a personal email and a non-work device when reaching out.