Will California’s Fast Food Council speak for the state’s fast food workers?
The public will get a preview today, when the Council holds its inaugural meeting in Oakland. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has made a considerable financial investment in the legislative creation of this Council, and is out with a report this week previewing its own agenda.
But new polling data casts doubt on whether California restaurant workers’ priorities line up with the union’s.
Don’t tell that to the SEIU. Last month, it launched the California Fast Food Workers Union, a high-profile stunt to establish credibility to speak on behalf of fast food workers. The name is more than a bit misleading: Per its website, the organization is based in Washington, DC, not California; it’s not a legal labor union and can’t bargain with employers; and it represents far less than one percent of the state’s fast food workforce.
You could more accurately call it the Carpetbaggers’ Fast Food Forum.
But setting aside the name, how does the group’s agenda line up with the needs and interests of California fast food workers? Per the union’s website, its priority is to create “fair pay, safe and healthy workplaces and a voice for all workers in the fast food industry.” Hard to argue with that. But the union is asking workers to pay for this privilege to the tune of $240 per year. To find out if workers need the (fake) union’s services, the Center for Union Facts commissioned a poll of 300 restaurant workers in California.
(The poll was fielded from February 26th to March 7th as part of the CARAVAN survey.)
No industry is perfect. But contrary to the SEIU’s portrayal of restaurants as dangerous hellholes, the surveyed employees were generally satisfied with their places of work. A whopping 95 percent of respondents agreed that they feel safe work, with 56 percent strongly agreeing with that sentiment. Similarly, 92 percent said they enjoy working at their restaurant, which runs counter to the union narrative of workers being forced to take terrible jobs. When asked if they have the tools they need to solve problems at work, 88 percent agreed that they do. Finally, 76 percent agreed that their concerns are heard at work.
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We further asked these workers for their impressions on the SEIU-endorsed $20 fast food minimum wage, soon to take effect in California. Specifically, we asked what impacts the policy would have on their jobs. (Respondents could pick multiple answers.) Perhaps surprisingly, only 41 percent said the $20 minimum wage would lead to higher total earnings. By contrast, 51 percent responded that the policy would lead to fewer hours or shifts scheduled, 40 percent said it would lead to staffing cuts, and 39 percent it would cause employers to hire less. A strong majority (60 percent) said it would lead to higher prices, and nearly 1 in 10 said it would cause business closures.
These survey respondents are accurate in their assessments. The Wall Street Journal reports that restaurant prices in California–already some of the highest in the nation–are rising even higher in response to a $20 minimum wage. Numerous local news reports document restaurants slashing hours and shifts to try and manage an unmanageable wage mandate. Consumers are bracing themselves: “I am expecting to step on an escalator of ever-rising prices,” said one Californian who now plans to dine out less.
In light of these consequences, perhaps the California Fast Food Council needs a new mission: Saving California’s restaurants from the SEIU.
Michael Saltsman is Executive Director at the Employment Policies Institute. Charlyce Bozzello is Communications Director at the Center for Union Facts.