CA Minimum Wage Raised To $20 For Fast Food Workers – What Affect Will This Have?

Starting April 1st, fast food workers in California are now getting their minimum wage rate raised to $20 an hour.

And I hear that some people aren’t happy about this.

C’mon, man. More money means more money.

Raising the minimum wage to $20 an hour is just a common sense ‘strategery’.

What could go wrong?

It’s not like they can hire McRobocop to flip burgers.

Just look at Seattle:

Liberals screw up everything pic.twitter.com/gIwmoU7WGy

— Charlie Foxtrot (@011B777) April 1, 2024

I guess it’s not a good idea afterall.

Are we going to see layoffs?

Increased food prices?

Who could’ve guessed that?

Do you think other Democrat controlled states will do the same?

Fox News reports:

It’s a tale as old as time yet too often ignored by politicians: elected officials pass sweeping new policies and small businesses and consumers pay the price. Consider the new law in California mandating a $20-hourly minimum wage at quick-service restaurants across the state.

In the days leading up to the April 1 implementation date, the headlines were predictably awash with grim economic news. “Minimum wage increase in California could lead to layoffs” blared KNTV in San Francisco.

As business owners and their trade groups warned when the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery (FAST) Act was first proposed in 2022, the chickens are finally coming home to roost in the form of higher prices, job cuts and shuttered businesses. But California politicians, who are beholden to the Service Employees International Union’s (SEIU) demands for fear of political retribution, chose not to listen.

The original version of the FAST Act would have been even more damaging. Negotiations yielded a compromise lowering the minimum wage from $22 to $20 and extended the timeline of its implementation from Jan. 1, 2023, to April 1, 2024. It also neutered the powers of a “Fast Food Council” to advisory-status rather than creating a new rule-making body.

Most importantly, the California compromise eliminated joint employer liability, which would have destroyed the franchise model by tying brands and their franchise owners together as one entity — long a prize for unions in their ongoing boondoggle to attempt to organize employees at franchised locations as one entity. Joint employer status erodes independence and autonomy from individual franchise owners, consolidating power with big business and big labor unions.

By their nature, compromises are never perfect, but in a state where one party controls all the levers of power, it was progress nonetheless.

That’s the good news. On the other side of the coin, the Biden administration’s National Labor Relations Board is pursuing a similar joint employer policy at the national level. Thankfully, the House of Representatives passed a repeal, and now the Senate must get the ball over the finish line. In the upper chamber, the effort enjoys bipartisan support, including from Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and several other moderate Democrats.

Exporting policies too extreme for the Golden State is not a wise course of action for the rest of the country.

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Below we see photo of California Gov. Gavin Newsom signing legislation for the $20 hike on Sept. 28, 2023.

Look how happy he is.

He just loves Californians so much, doesn’t he?

Though that grin does seem devilish.

What does he know?

Will those in California start seeing $15 cheeseburgers now?

$10 fries?

$20 Big Macs?

And will the SIZES of fast food items shrink while they get more expensive?

(For those of you who don’t know, that’s a common method companies use to hide rising prices. It’s called ‘shrinkflation’ and I despise it.)

Even some fast food locations closed on April 1st because the couldn’t afford to pay their workers:

On April 1st, California raised the minimum wages for fast food workers to $20/hour.

That same day, Fosters Freeze went out of business and laid off all 20 employees.

The owner says that he was crushed but is unable to sustain the wage hike as a small business owner.

Mass… pic.twitter.com/thJbuqLBfR

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 4, 2024

A $20 restaurant minimum wage hike leads to $20+ hamburger. California has created a blueprint for destroying the middle class and becoming a state of haves and have nots. #CA #caleg pic.twitter.com/Wc5JierhpZ

— Walker Wildmon (@WalkerWildmon) April 1, 2024

This is causing locations to stop growing in California and seek for franchises in other states.

CA rolled out its $20 minimum wage for fast-food workers, and one franchise operator says it's going to cost him nearly $500k across 10 restaurants.

"I'm not growing anymore in this state…I'm doing a different franchise in Nevada and that's where I'm taking those new jobs… pic.twitter.com/PHenq3gloL

— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) April 2, 2024

McDonald’s found a way to partially dodge the pay hike a few years ago by hiring robots:

McDonald's: "We ain't payin' $20/hr" pic.twitter.com/K3Wt5utNU4

— 🇺🇸🇺🇸CHERYL🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@supermom8639) April 1, 2024

Now they’ve stepped up their game to avoid the wage hike entirely:

They’re going to become a ‘bakery’.

Mcdonalds to partnership with Krispy Kreme to avoid paying CA workers the increased minimum wage because then they'd classify as a "Bakery" and would be exempt from having to pay the increased amount by the end of this year.

And by 2026 Krispy Kreme will be available at all… pic.twitter.com/pnnyPnvBHi

— The𝗗𝗼𝗻𝘇 (@DONZMEDIA) March 29, 2024

McDonald’s and Krispy Kremes together?

Dreams do come true, boys and girls!

Though we probably shouldn’t eat this. That much.

Bonus:

Here’s some examples of shrinkflation.

I can’t believe in the pizzas have gotten smaller. The box gives it away:

Shrinkflation. Raised $4 from last year, used to take up entire box. Not even a meme.

What happens when your government takes their new half portion of your money.

It's not inflation, it's legalized theft by dilution of the money supply. pic.twitter.com/7YtxGUKAg4

— John Adams (@lincoln_can) April 3, 2024

Bring back the $5 footlong at Subway!

Now you can’t even get half a footlong for $5.

It’s now $6.

Subway fooling you into believing you are getting a good deal. What happened to the $5 footlong? Shrinkflation. pic.twitter.com/m8SSfwl2Na

— VoltronsWorld (@voltronsworld) April 4, 2024