California
California fast food workers demand another minimum wage increase — four months after $4 raise
War of the wages!
Fast food workers in California are asking for another minimum wage hike just months after the Golden State bumped their pay from $16 to $20 an hour.
The California Fast Food Workers Union — a branch of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) — released a new list of demands at the first-ever meeting of the state’s Fast Food Council, according to KTLA 5 News.
The union is asking that wages for workers be raised to $20.70 per hour by Jan. 1, 2025, “to keep up with the rising cost of living,” the SEIU released in a statement to the outlet.
They also called for increased job stability, fair payment for owed back pay, stable schedules for workers, and a thorough investigation into what they claim are widespread “pervasive abuses” in the fast food industry, KTLA 5 News reported.
They claim the abuses include wage theft, harassment, discrimination, and hazardous working conditions.
“As California’s fast-food industry grows, cooks and cashiers are doubling down on their fight across the state to win safe and healthy stores, stable hours, pay that keeps up with inflation and training to understand their rights on the job,” the SEIU statement read.
Gov. Gavin Newsom formed the council of 11 members in Sept. 2023 to establish wages and regulations for the fast-food industry.
Four months ago, the state’s new $20 minimum wage increase went into effect.
In that short period, fast-food restaurants in California have slashed nearly 10,000 jobs as struggling franchises cut labor costs and raised prices to survive.
Several major chains – including McDonald’s, Burger King, and even low-cost favorite In-N-Out Burger – jacked up prices to offset the higher wages.
Many had to cut employee hours, and some have expedited a move toward automation.
Rubio’s California Grill closed 48 of its nearly 134 locations at the end of May – making it the first major chain to fall victim to the new law.
The San Diego-based company cited the “rising cost of doing business” in the state for the closures and filed for bankruptcy in June.
President and CEO of the California Restaurant Association, Jot Condie, which opposed AB 1228, said businesses are simultaneously feeling the squeeze from rising rents and food costs.
“When labor costs jump more than 25% overnight, any restaurant business with already-thin margins will be forced to reduce expenses elsewhere,” Condie told the outlet.
“They don’t have a lot of options beyond increasing prices, reducing hours of operation, or scaling back the size of their workforce.”
Fast food joints have also reiterated concerns about these rising operations costs to the council.
“I have been forced to raise prices,” an Arby franchisee told the council, according to KTLA 5 News.
“I try to do the best I can. I have taken money out of my own savings to make things work this last quarter. But I don’t know how long I’ll be able to sustain something like that moving forward.”
Customers have also felt the brunt of the new law. A survey conducted by LendingTree found 78% of consumers now consider fast food a “luxury” purchase due to how expensive the meals have become.
However, the SEIU and Newsom’s office cite data showing the industry added thousands of jobs after the law took effect on April 1, with employees not affected by the layoffs welcoming the new demand for a pay increase.
“It’s been really good because I can put more food on the table and in my fridge and pay my rent on time which was always a challenge,” Oakland Wendy’s employee Romualda Alcazar Cruz said Wednesday.
The IPOs of SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic could deliver billions of dollars to California’s coffers.
We’ve seen this movie before.
In 2022, California recorded a nearly $100 billion surplus, saved just $10 billion in its rainy day fund and then spent the rest. Two years later, a $56 billion deficit loomed.
Now, with the state facing ongoing operating deficits of more than $10 billion, we’re back in familiar territory.
The coming IPO windfall is a rare second chance. But we’ll only benefit from it if we first fix the structural flaw that’s caused us to squander every previous boom — a budget reserve that isn’t built to hold what we put in it.
The stakes this time are higher than ever. The war in Iran raised recession risk, and the federal government is systematically dismantling the funding streams California has depended on for decades.
When Washington retreats, Sacramento has to choose: cut services, raise taxes or have enough saved to bridge the gap. Right now, we don’t have enough saved.
We’re not outside observers wringing our hands. We helped shape the fiscal architecture the state is now straining against, and we’re here to say: It needs to be rebuilt.
As California state controller, one of us campaigned alongside Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to pass Proposition 58 in 2004 — creating California’s first Budget Stabilization Account. The other authored the Assembly Constitutional Amendment that became Proposition 2 in 2014 — the stronger, harder-to-raid replacement that voters approved with 69% support.
California’s tax system is the envy of progressive states and the nightmare of budget directors. We tax the wealthy at high rates, capture enormous capital gains revenue in boom years and then discover — every single time — that the peak doesn’t last.
If California treats the IPO windfall from SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI as permanent revenue, our state would repeat exactly the mistake we made four years ago.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Assemblymember Avelino Valencia have each proposed important reforms to strengthen the fund. First, they call for requiring the state to make deposits until the fund reaches 20% of the general fund total, rather than the current 10%. Second, they propose changing an arcane accounting rule that treats saving for future downturns as spending.
We see one additional opportunity to make the rainy day fund even stronger.
If we want a larger budget reserve, we have to do more than merely allow it — we need to require it. Proposition 58 taught us everything we need to know on this front: Between 2004 and 2014, with that proposition fund in place, only two deposits were made. If we want consistent deposits during the boom times, they can’t be optional.
These reforms should be a win-win for the California Legislature. A larger reserve is the most durable protection that public sector workers, social service recipients and education advocates have against the kind of emergency cuts that have repeatedly gutted programs during downturns.
It’s also the strongest argument against tax increases in a recession because you don’t need to raise taxes if you actually save during the booms.
Building a stronger rainy day fund isn’t the cautious choice. It’s the visionary one — the closest thing we have to investing in the next generation of Californians.
We built the last rainy day fund because we’d lived through the consequences of not having one. We’re making the same argument again, for the same reason except now the stakes are higher. This time, the federal backstop is weaker, and the next storm is closer than it looks.
Fix the fund this year. The next generation of Californians will thank us for it.
Mike Gatto served in the state Assembly between 2010 and 2016, and he authored the measure that created California’s current rainy day fund. Steve Westly served as state controller between 2003 and 2007, and he co-championed Proposition 58, California’s original rainy day fund. Westly chairs the 21st Century Alliance, a nonpartisan organization focused on solutions to the state’s most pressing challenges.
CHICO, Calif. — A shooting at a library in Northern California on Monday left two people dead and a suspect is in custody, according to police.
Police responded to a 911 call soon after 5 p.m. in which the sounds of gun shots and people screaming could be heard coming from inside the Chico branch of the Butte County Library, Billy Aldridge, the city’s chief of police, said during a news conference.
Once officers were inside the library, the suspect fled out of the back, he said. Additional law enforcement behind the library took the suspect into custody, according to Aldridge.
“The incident this evening was obviously very sad, traumatic for a lot of people. Very traumatic for our community,” he said.
The streets around the library were closed temporarily and a family reunification center was set up for the people who were inside the building.
A child was also taken to the hospital with a minor injury.
Aldridge said there is no serious threat to the public and law enforcement are investigating the shooting.
The police didn’t release the suspect’s name nor details on what prompted the shooting. Law enforcement said they believe the shooter acted alone.
Law enforcement are also not releasing the names of the people killed until next of kin have been notified.
The county urged the public to avoid the area and said all Butte County library branches will be closed Tuesday.
The county in a post on Facebook offered “deepest condolences to everyone affected, including the victims, their loved ones, library staff, and all those impacted by this heartbreaking incident.”
Copyright © 2026 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
CALIFORNIA CITY, Calif. (KERO) — A 12-year-old boy is dead and another child was hospitalized after two unleashed dogs attacked a group of children at Central Park in California City on Friday, June 18.
California City Mayor Edwin Hawkins said police responded to the scene after reports that four children had been mauled.
Fernando Torres Moreno, 12, jumped into a nearby lake to escape the charging dogs. Officers pulled Fernando from the water, and he was taken to the hospital, where he died the next day.
A second child suffered serious, though non-life-threatening, dog bite wounds and has since been released from the hospital. Two additional children were shaken but did not require medical treatment.
Authorities say the dogs, both mixed breed, were off-leash but in the presence of their owner when the attack unfolded.
The investigation remains active and ongoing. No arrests have been made.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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