Judge grants preliminary injunction to block historic California fast food worker bill AB257
The largest fast food retail chains are spending millions of dollars in opposition to California bill AB257
A Sacramento Supreme Court judge granted a preliminary injunction on AB257, halting the implementation of AB257, the FAST Recovery Act, a bill that would allow the creation of fast-food sector councils with workers representatives to oversee the industry statewide and at county levels.
The ruling halts the creation of fast-food sector councils before a voter referendum to overturn the bill is scheduled for Election Day 2024 if petition signatures that were filed to hold the referendum are verified by January 25. The fast-food industry has long been criticized for paying workers poverty wages, poor labor practices from wage theft to union busting, being assaulted on the job, rampant sexual harassment
Fast food corporations, including McDonald’s, Starbucks, Chipotle, and franchisees raised $12.7 million in 2022 to oppose AB257, which was passed by the California legislature and signed by Governor Gavin Newson in September 2022. The US Chamber of Commerce called the bill “radical.’
Mary Kay Henry, President of the Service Employees International Union, said in a statement responding to the ruling, “Corporations like McDonald’s, Starbucks and others would rather sink millions of dollars into repealing progressive laws than simply invest in creating good jobs and meeting their workers at the table. These fast-food corporations’ efforts to stymie progress for half a million Black, brown and immigrant workers are not just anti-union, they are anti-democracy. We will not let this stand.”
She added, “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. Every day AB 257 is delayed, these issues will continue to fester across the industry. The cooks and cashiers who make fast-food corporations’ profits possible know better than anyone that their industry is broken, and they know they need a seat at the table through AB 257 to fix it.”