New law raises minimum wage for California fast-food workers to $20 an hour
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00:00 a victory for hundreds of thousands of people
00:02 across the state of California.
00:04 — Boy, these was some tough mountains!
00:08 — For some, the new bill,
00:11 which raises the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20 per hour,
00:15 feels like righting a historic wrong.
00:17 — This is for my grandmother, my great-grandmother,
00:21 Johnny Tegels,
00:22 my grandmother, Bobby Pittman,
00:25 and for my children.
00:26 This is for my ancestors.
00:29 This is for all the farm workers,
00:31 all the cotton pickers!
00:34 — California Governor Gavin Newsom said the bill is a recognition of the fact
00:39 that a majority of fast-food workers are breadwinners.
00:42 — Eighty percent of the workforce in these fast-food places,
00:46 80 percent, are people of color.
00:49 Two-thirds are women.
00:52 We have the opportunity to reward that contribution,
00:55 reward that sacrifice,
00:57 and stabilize an industry in turn.
01:00 What a remarkable moment.
01:02 — Labor and business groups negotiated long and hard over the deal.
01:06 In exchange, unions agreed to drop their efforts to make fast-food corporations liable
01:11 for the misdeeds of their independent franchise operators in California.
01:15 The new bill on higher pay means that fast-food workers in the state
01:19 will have the highest guaranteed base salary in the industry.
01:23 The previous hourly rate, $16.60,
01:26 is considered below the California poverty measure for a family of four,
01:30 although it's higher than the average minimum wage in the state, $15.50.
01:36 Under the new law, which will take effect on April 1st,
01:39 there is also room for a yearly raise.