How California Fast Food Workers Won a $20 Minimum Wage

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Importantly, the new law also solidifies the power of the state's Fast Food Council to "establish an hourly minimum wage for fast food restaurant employees and develop standards, rules, and regulations for the fast food industry." The council itself (which is made up of fast food workers, industry representatives, and government appointees) held its first meeting in March, two weeks before the minimum wage hike went into effect.

The Fast Food Council's two worker representatives, Angelica Hernandez and Anneisha Williams, have decades of fast food experience between them. They're both excited to use their newfound power to educate industry executives about the hardships workers endure, and to lift up their coworkers around the state. "I'm very proud to represent the more than a half a million fast food workers across California and be a voice for those who are too afraid to speak up out of fear of retaliation," Hernandez, who has worked at McDonald's in Los Angeles for nearly 20 years and has been an active leader in the Fight for $15 campaign, tells Teen Vogue. "I've fought for a very long time to get where we're at and have done so much to get here. I've camped out at the state capitol, gone on strike and supported countless workers across the state. And we won't stop, because we know we need to win more protections for fast food workers across the industry."

As part of this fight, workers throughout the state have protested and gone on strike to address issues like unsafe working conditions, sexual harassment, wage theft, and retaliation. Over 80% of California's fast food workers are people of color, and two thirds of them are women. "I don't want anyone to have to go through the things I've gone through on the job, like sexual harassment, wage theft and discrimination," Hernandez adds. "It's time fast food workers finally have a say in a system that oftentimes overlooks workers like me — primarily Black, brown, immigrant and women workers."

In February 2024, workers announced the formation of the California Fast Food Workers Union (CAFFWU), the first-ever statewide fast food workers union. It falls under the auspices of SEIU, and its goal is threefold: to continue fighting for "fair, family-sustaining wages;" the opportunity to work; and "just cause," or ensuring that employers have a fair reason to discipline or fire employees.

"The fast food industry has been skewed for far too long to work solely for corporations while leaving the workers out," says 18-year-old Marina Orozco, a shift leader at a Carls' Jr. in Sacramento. Orozco is currently working multiple jobs to put herself through college, and is proud to be a member of the new union. "It is important to join the union and build worker power so that people who are facing sexual harassment, wage theft, violence, racism, discrimination and retaliation in their work place can have a seat at the table and not be silenced about their experiences, along with having a say in coming up with sustainable solutions."

Like the Union of Southern Service Workers, another SEIU-supported worker-led union, the California Fast Food Workers Union is nontraditional in that it will not seek recognition from the National Labor Relations Board, but it will be a dues-paying organization that provides various benefits to its members. Coupled with the Fast Food Council, the new union will give California's fast food workers a well-deserved seat at the table, a megaphone — and an opportunity to keep pushing for what they deserve.

"I hope other young girls can see a Black woman, a single mom, a person that many overlooked and ignored, on this Council and see what's possible," says Fast Food Council member Anneisha Williams, who works at a Jack in the Box location in Los Angeles. "I want young women to know that our voices are powerful and that the more of us who speak up, the more we can change things for the better."

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