 Last year Governor Gavin Newsom of California signed the fast food recovery act into law and as a leftist I have my criticisms of Gavin Newsom But he absolutely gets credit where it's due because this is by far one of the most pro worker pieces of legislation signed into law This generation and I say that because the 550,000 fast food workers in California for the first time ever would actually be given a seat at the table We're talking about a real power to determine the courses of their lives the Los Angeles Times reported back in August The centerpiece of assembly bill 257 dubbed the fast food recovery act is the creation of a state fast food council with the authority To establish standards for wages working hours and conditions the council would set aside seats for business and worker representatives So needless to say this is a game-changer because this Exploitative dynamic between employers and employees is being fundamentally reshaped as a result of this law So of course the fast food industry vehemently opposed it, but that's predictable, right? And they were able to lobby to an extent to get the bill watered down But by the time it was signed into law it was still incredibly powerful legislation Now one of the first things that the fast food industry anticipates this council to do is raise the minimum wage from 1515 an hour to $22 an hour and at face value You're probably thinking man that's that seems like a really large jump But believe it or not the Center for Economic and Policy Research reports that wages would actually be at $26 an hour if they kept up with productivity and a $22 an hour wage amounts to an annual salary of just under $46,000 per year assuming that you work 40 hours per week So that's pretty reasonable if you ask me considering how much profit their labor produces For these fast food restaurants But California's fast food industry refuses to accept this law and they scored a massive victory late last year And they now have this law on the ropes USA Today reported the following on December 30th a group won a temporary restraining order to stop California's plan to implement a law on January 1st that could among other things raise the industry's minimum wage to $22 an hour save local restaurants filed a lawsuit on Thursday saying California couldn't enact AB 257 Or the fast act also known as the fast food recovery act as planned after the group on December 5th Submitted a petition signed by more than 1 million Californians to put the measure on the ballot in November of 2024 Save local restaurants includes International Franchise Association the National Restaurant Association and the US Chamber of Commerce Yeah, so putting this up to a vote in 2024 gives them more than enough time to run a robust propaganda campaign to drive down support and ultimately get low information voters to vote against their own self-interest and Just so you know this effort was supported by companies like McDonald's Chipotle and in and out now This propaganda campaign will probably be effective because as you know fear is a powerful tool for elites And I'm assuming that they'll talk about how this will cost jobs drive up prices lead to workers being replaced by robots But understand these are all things that corporations would do anyway so long as they think they'll be able to get away with it But one argument that caught my eye that I didn't necessarily expect Was the argument from McDonald's president Joe Erlinger because he essentially says that this law was Undemocratic and he wants you to think of the poor multi-millionaire franchise owners who this is going to hurt on January 25th McDonald's corporate released a lengthy open letter to California lawmakers written by Erlinger where he literally calls California's law Autocratic insider reports the president of McDonald's USA through shade at California lawmakers for passing a fast-food law That he said would make it all but impossible to run small business restaurants in the state Joe Erlinger said in a January 25th Open letter a majority of McDonald's nearly 14,000 restaurants in the United States are run by franchisees with hundreds of stores operating in California The open letter was titled California keeps looking for ways to raise prices Drive away more businesses and destroy growth through bad policy and bad politics The state is teaching us a powerful lesson about what our future could look like if this one-sided style of Democracy is mimicked elsewhere or goes unchecked in the Golden State said Erlinger a native of California There are big important issues that need the attention of lawmakers Implementing costly and job-destroying legislation like AB 257 is not the answer Yes, because California lawmakers should be focusing on the real issues, which doesn't include worker rights Interesting argument there, so I need you to understand this clown is seriously arguing that California passing legislation That evens the playing field between employers and employees is Undemocratic and on top of that he wants you to feel guilty for the small business owners that this autocratic law will affect Namely the McDonald's franchise owners now look, let me be very clear here McDonald's franchise owners are not small business owners Visa franchise reports that the average median net sales of McDonald's franchises in the United States is $2.9 million annually and Franchise owners can make their initial investment into the franchise back in less than 10 years with a 10% profit margin And let's talk about the initial investment of 1.8 million dollars That's required to even start a McDonald's franchise in the first place I mean in order to secure a business loan for that much money that requires good credit Liquidity and resources that normal Americans simply don't have access to so Forgive me for not feeling sorry for these small business franchise owners who expect workers to live in poverty While they produce higher profits year after year after year for entitled franchise owners Who sit on their asses and expect their wealth to grow endlessly while complaining about paying workers who made them successful in the first Place livable wages. No, I'm sorry, but off if your franchise can't afford livable wages then your franchise doesn't deserve to exist or Maybe get off your ass and flip burgers yourself to reduce the cost of labor But I mean I don't want to offend the downtrodden franchise owners of McDonald's I could never forgive myself if I were to punch down on these poor souls who are struggling with their multi-million dollar per year franchise I mean the argument here It's so damn enormous makes my head explode And what makes that comment from Erlinger even more insulting is that he's bemoaning a $46,000 annual salary while he rakes in millions of dollars insider reports according to financial disclosures Erlinger made about seven point four million dollars in salary stock options and other compensation from McDonald's in 2021 the latest year complete compensation history is available 7.4 million dollars in a single year If Erlinger worked 40 hours per week and was paid hourly, he'd be making well over $3,500 per hour, but yet the prospect of his workers Making $22 an hour It just makes him apoplectic it sends him into a rage and he goes full Karen and writes a strongly worded letter to California's Autocratic lawmakers. I mean the audacity of this man Now if you're feeling angry just imagine how the employee is in California must feel Insider reports that fast food workers across California have planned strikes to protest employer support for this referendum This includes tracks at McDonald's and other fast food restaurants So these strikes are likely going to continue throughout the year because these fast food companies aren't going to back down And they will be trying to get Californians to overturn this law But one thing that you can do to stand in solidarity with these fast food workers is never ever cross the picket line Support them when they're striking and that's the bare minimum, but as for Erlinger. Well I'm not buying the guilt trips for these franchise owners And I absolutely don't think that one of the most democratic pieces of legislation with respect to working place conditions is Autocratic I mean, he's basically gaslighting all of us with the things that he's saying and what's sad is that? most Californians might buy his argument because believe it or not propaganda works and These fast food corporations are going to spend lots of money to make sure that California Californians vote against us So if you live in California Start organizing right now Because there's going to be a massive effort to overturn this and we need this to stick because we don't want this to just Apply to California. We want this to initiate a domino effect where other states see how successful this law is and they adopt similar laws