Starting Monday, most California fast-food workers will earn at least $20 an hour — the highest minimum wage across the U.S. restaurant industry. Yet the pay hike is sparking furious debate, with some restaurant owners warning of job losses and higher prices for customers, while labor advocates tout the benefits of higher wages.

The new law, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom last fall, takes effect on April 1, requiring that fast-food chains with at least 60 locations nationwide pay workers at least $20 an hour. The means the state’s 553,000 fast-food workers will earn more than the state’s $16 minimum wage for all other industries.

The new baseline wage comes as the fast-food industry is seeing booming earnings, with big chains like McDonald’s enjoying strong revenue growth and wider profit margins in recent years. That’s partly due to menu prices that have far outpaced inflation, with fast-food costs surging 47% over the past decade, compared with an average of 29% for all other prices, according to a new analysis from the Roosevelt Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.

  • @jaybone
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    69 months ago

    I went into McDonald’s a couple months ago on a rare craving whim. A Big Mac was almost $7.

    If I’m going to pay $7 I’d rather go to Jack in the box or Carl’s Jr and get a better quality burger. I don’t see how the market allows them to get away with this. Who the fuck is paying this at McDonald’s?

    • @psycho_driver
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      79 months ago

      Yeah the last couple of times I’ve been in a pinch and went through a fast food place for a basic burger value meal it was $11-$12, and I got the usual half-assed burger slopped together without the proper amount of toppings.

      Bitches I can hop into a Cheddars and get a half pound monster that I can barely get into my mouth for $11.

    • @[email protected]
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      fedilink
      59 months ago

      Don’t give these assholes your money. Make your own food. That way you save a ton of money and not support these fuckers. Society will still thrive without shitdonald and the likes if they disappear.

    • @return2ozma
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      19 months ago

      Western Bacon Cheeseburger combo in the Los Angeles area now…