California Fast Food Workers Will Now Earn a $20 Per Hour Minimum Wage

It’s not a secret that a huge portion of the labor market is staring down low wages that are, frankly, insufficient for surviving in our current inflation-addled economy. But, historically, there are few workers that have been underpaid more than fast food employees. The median per hour wage for fast food workers was just $13.43 in May 2022, though many of those employees, especially in less progressive states, are legally allowed to make just $7.25 an hour, the federal minimum wage. With the average apartment clocking in at over $2,000 a month, it would be impossible for the average fast food employee to make ends meet.

The excuse that has been spouted off by capitalist pundits for ages now is that most fast food workers are teenagers who don’t need a livable wage anyway. They’re just kids, flipping burgers after school! They’re making a few extra bucks to take their girlfriends out for milkshakes at the diner after the sock hop! But anyone who makes that claim is living in a fantasy world; the majority of fast food workers are adults, not 16-year-old Bobby saving up for a $250 used car. “That’s a romanticized version of a world that doesn’t exist,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom. Adults have bills to pay, families to support, futures to grow. After working 40 hours a week, they deserve to sleep in a safe home and, you know, not develop scurvy.

It’s no small victory, then, that on September 28, Governor Newsom signed a California bill into law that sets the minimum wage for fast food workers at $20 per hour, starting April 1, 2024. The state’s minimum wage was already $15.50 before the new law was passed, but it’s still a substantial increase for the over half a million fast food employees in the state. It’s a testament to the success of the labor unions in the state that have been fighting for higher wages and greater worker protections for a decade.

Not only does the law set a new minimum wage for fast food workers, but it also institutes a Fast Food Council, an organization that will have the power to increase this minimum wage even further to account for inflation that affects the price of essential consumer goods, like food, gas and housing.

This success takes place as labor issues become more and more prevalent on the political scene. President Joe Biden and current Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump, are both trying to paint themselves as pro-labor candidates, (which, lol), and the Writers Guild of America, which represents the recently striking Hollywood writers, just reached a tentative agreement with major studios that would guarantee better pay for writers who contribute to shows on streaming platforms and limit the use of AI in the industry.

This victory in California, though, is one of the first big recent labor wins for food workers, who do the important work of feeding this country. It’s just a start; too many of the workers who produce our food are far, far away from that $20/hour mark. This law only applies to employees working in California employed by chains that have at least 60 locations; workers in other states, or even those in California who are employed by smaller companies, are not receiving the same benefits. And farmworkers, who do one of the most important and labor-intensive jobs in the country, on average earn far less than even other low-paying industries.

We have work to do in the food industry and beyond. But this small win for California fast food workers should serve as a lesson that speaks to the potential power of labor unions in an age of rapidly growing wealth inequality.

Samantha Maxwell is a food writer and editor based in Boston. Follow her on Twitter at @samseating.