Gov. Gavin Newsom stands with Anneisha Williams (right, in yellow), after signing legislation supporting fast food workers during a press conference in Los Angeles on Sept. 28, 2023. Photo by Alisha Jucevic for CalMatters
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With tears in her eyes, Anneisha Williams, a Jack in the Box employee from Inglewood, lifted the piece of paper that wasAssembly Bill 1228 with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s fresh signature. The measure will raise the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 an hour next April and create a council to set labor standards.
Before Newsom signed the bill Thursday, in front of a crowd at SEIU offices in downtown Los Angeles that included labor leaders, union members and Assemblymember Chris Holden of Pasadena (the bill’s author), Williams recounted the monumental effort it took to push the measure through (“Boy, were these some tough mountains’”), and dedicated the moment to those who came before her.
- Williams: “This is for my ancestors. This is for all the farm workers, all the cotton pickers, this is for them. We ride on their shoulders because they fought some rocky roads as well…. This is our blood, this is our sweat and this is our tears.”
The law is contingent on the restaurant industry formally withdrawing its November 2024 referendum to overturn a fast food council law passed last year. The governor acknowledged this political maneuvering during the signing, as well as the costly campaigning both industry and labor groups likely saved themselves.
- Newsom: “This wasn’t easy. There were 100-plushours in the last few months negotiating this referendum off the ballot. That was a tectonic plate that had to be moved.”
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