Wages
Arizona – A petition has been filed with the secretary of state to begin the process of collecting signatures for a proposed ballot initiative to increase the minimum wage and eliminate the tip credit. Per the initial language filed, the proposal would increase the minimum wage by $1/hr over any cost of living increases in 2025 and 2026 and eliminate the tip credit by 2027. The measure must be approved by the secretary of state before the process can begin. More details.
Labor Policy
EEOC – Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chairman Janet Dhillon resigned from her post effective Nov. 18, marking an end to her three-year tenure on the panel. Dhillon, who was appointed chairman by former President Trump, saw her term expire in July but she has been able to keep her seat because President Biden’s nominee to fill the post hasn’t yet been confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Absent a Senate-confirmed replacement, Dhillon could have held on to her seat until the end of the year. Once Dhillon is gone, the commission will have an even 2-2 partisan split, meaning the panel will remain in its current state of gridlock until the Biden administration can fill her seat with a Democrat. If President Biden’s nominee, civil rights attorney Kalpana Kotagal, isn’t confirmed by the end of the year, she will have to be renominated. More details.
California – While the industry gathers signatures to place an initiative on the 2024 ballot to repeal the FAST Act, the law also requires workers to gather at least 10,000 signatures from fast-food employees across the state to show grassroots support for the proposed council. As of this week, the SEIU announced that it has collected over 17,000 signatures and submitted them this week to the California Department of Industrial Relations. More details.
Labor Activism
Medieval Times – Workers at a second company location (this one in Buena Park, CA) voted 27-18 in favor of joining the American Guild of Variety Artists. The first was a location earlier this year in New Jersey. While not appearing to aggressively contest the initial election, the company has been aggressive the second time around – successfully delaying the election until this week as well as suing the union alleging trademark infringement. More details.
Starbucks – Over a thousand employees went on strike this week, picketing outside more than a hundred stores across the country on what is one of the company’s busiest days. The walkout fell on what’s known as “Red Cup Day,” when the company hands out limited-edition holiday reusable cups. The “Red Cup Rebellion” was the first national coordinated strike and was intended to push the company to bargain in good faith with the more than 260 stores that have voted to unionize. In related news, the company also announced this week the closure of a store in Portland, ME that was among the earliest to vote for union representation. Expect charges of retaliation against workers to follow. More details.
Sustainability
San Diego, CA – The city council passed an ordinance banning all single-use polystyrene foam containers (styrofoam), utensils, and other products effective April 2023. The city originally voted for a ban in Jan. 2019, but a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lawsuit backed by the California Restaurant Association and Dart Container Corporation of California was filed, delaying it for several years. Once settled, the city had to file an environmental impact report to spur a re-adoption of the ordinance. That process concluded this week with the council voting 7-1 to pass the Single Use Plastic Reduction Ordinance for a second time. The new ordinance covers single-use styrofoam food containers, utensils, coolers, and pool toys. Another round of litigation is possible. More details.
Key Takeaways
- The Red Cup Rebellion was the first, but certainly will not be the last, national day of action targeting Starbucks. The union was able to effectively mobilize thousands of workers in concert, shutting down at least a handful of stores and earning extensive national and regional press coverage. As negotiations falter, expect more national days of action.
- In the next few weeks, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) will be voting on whether to make Virginia’s new paid leave law “model legislation” for other states to follow. In contrast to the eleven states and Washington, DC that have enacted mandatory, state-run paid family and medical leave programs, Virginia’s “opt-in” approach not only doesn’t guarantee paid leave to workers, but it allows employers to purchase paid leave insurance from private carriers and pass that coverage on to employees as a benefit. If adopted as model policy, it could tremendously alter the national conversation on the issue with both additional challenges and opportunities for brands.
Podcast
Check out our Working Lunch podcast each week that includes further analysis into these legislative issues, policy, politics and much more. You can find Working Lunch on the Restaurant Business online website, SoundCloud, iTunes and Spotify.