, which would enact what’s known as “joint liability” standards for the fast-food industry, meaning that franchisor parent companies would be held responsible for labor law violations of franchisees. This blurring of the corporate lines—which strikes at the very heart of the entire franchise model—had been stripped out of the original FAST Act legislation, only to be resuscitated in an act of seeming revenge for the industry’s ballot referendum.
, granting it power to adopt orders related to the wages, hours, and working conditions of industries—with the understanding that its first target would be fast food. The commission was to act as an insurance policy if the FAST Act repeal referendum was successful. Facing this dizzying array of existential threats, the fast-food industry opened talks with Gov. Newsom’s office. They came to an agreement by ceding ground on the minimum wage hike—the minimum wage for fast food workers will be raised to $20 by April 2024, with the potential for annual increases—and, in turn, the industry securedThe FAST Act’s Fast Food Council will be replaced with a less virulent version that includes more equal representation for the industry.