Sept 28 Reuters Fastfood workers in California will earn a minimum of 20 an hour and have a greater say in setting workplace standards under a new bill signed into law on Thursday by Governor Gavin Newsom.

The future happens here first, Newsom said at an event in Los Angeles, with labor officials and fastfood workers flanking him.

The legislation emerged as part of a broader compromise in which fastfood companies agreed to remove a 2024 ballot referendum asking voters to repeal a law aimed at improving wages and working conditions for employees.

Labor unions, meanwhile, dropped their push to hold fastfood corporations liable for violations committed by their franchisees.

The median fastfood worker in the U.S. earned 13.43 an hour in 2022, while those in California made an average of 16.60 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The new minimum, which takes effect in April, equates to an annual salary of 41,600.

There are more than 550,000 fastfood workers at 30,000 locations statewide, Newsom said. The majority are the primary providers for their families contrary to the perception that fastfood workers are teenagers in their first jobs while 80 are minorities and twothirds are women, he added.

We39;re not just about growth, he said. This state is about inclusion.

In addition to the higher wages, the law also establishes a Fast Food Council including representatives for both workers and employers that can approve further pay increases and set…