In California, food preparers make up 75.3% of the labor in the restaurant industry
In the United States food preparation workers make up 49% of employees at restaurants and other eating places
(Employment of Development Department CA & U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Food preparation in the fast food industry continues to be one of the fastest growing industries in California due to its accessibility to a greater amount of people.
There are no specific requirements or qualifications that are needed to apply or work as a food preparer in a fast food restaurant, such as there are no specific educational attainments required.
In California, there are about 83,870 annual openings for fast food preparation jobs, making it one of the largest low-wage jobs in the state.
The fast food preparation occupation grows at an average of 8% annually, compared to the 5% other occupations in California grow.
(U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Wages for fast food preparation workers in California:
Hourly mean: $12.94
25th percentile: $11.52
50th percentile: $12.18
75th percentile: $13.55
***25th percentile means that 25% of workers earn $11.52 or less than $11.52, 50th percentile means 50% of workers earn $12.18 or less than $12.18 , 75th percentile means workers earn $13.55 or less than $13.55 (According to the Employment of Development Department CA)
Contrary to popular belief, people working as fast food preparers are not teenagers looking for an extra income for leisure spending. Many fast food preparation workers are adults who are sometimes the sole providers for their families.
“68 percent of the core front-line workers in the fast-food industry are not in school and are single or married adults with or without children. For more than two-thirds of these workers, fast-food wages are an essential component of family income"
(Economic Policy Institute)
One fast food preparation worker in South Central Los Angeles explained how she was the sole provider for her family
"I live with my disabled mother and my younger brother. I am the only one bringing in an income, which is my job working at Jack-in-the-Box. I barely make enough to provide even and have to rely on government benefits for some necessities" -G.M
"Fast food preparation workers deserve more, I deserve more. We should be considered more than part-time employees and we should be making wages that allow us to live, not just survive. We do not have set schedules, we are constantly fighting just to work. I do not have health insurance from my job, and I do not think I have met anyone else that does. The little to no protections we have, especially when it comes to injury is just so crazy to me. Fast food workers do more than just prepare food, and we should be getting paid for it" -G.M
The fast food preparation worker experience is different for every individual. After speaking to two different fast food preparation workers from the California's Central Valley and South Central Los Angeles, there was a general consensus regarding poor working conditions in their fast food workplaces
Fast food preparation workers in California deserve more from the restaurants that they work for. Fast food preparation workers deserve dignity and protections for the work that they do. Some protections that these workers deserve are the right to set schedules, annual wage increase, and health insurance.
HOW CAN FAST FOOD PREPARATION WORKERS ACHIEVE THE JUSTICE THEY DESERVE?
RIGHT TO UNIONIZE
The video produced by Bloomberg Business discusses the difficulties that fast food preparation workers face when attempting to unionize while working for large corporations. Large fast food corporations are made up of franchises, which are not directly owned by the larger company itself. Therefore, the larger corporation cannot mandate for every franchise to allow their workers to unionize. HOWEVER, the large corporation can implement language into their contracts that would mandate their franchises to abide to.
In order to achieve unionization, workers and allies should demand that these large corporations incorporate language into their contracts that allow for the chance of unionization. The larger corporation should be held responsible for their company and their franchises that represent their company!
HOW CAN UNIONS HELP?
When fast food preparation workers experience injuries at work, they are expected to work without any injury pay or days off. Unions can help workers achieve a safer work environment by demanding hazard pay and on job injury pay.
According to California's Department of Industrial Relations, companies that employ more than 500 employees are required to provide hazard pay and work related injury pay under Executive Order N-51-20. However, large fast food corporations technically do not employ more than 500 employees because their establishments are franchises. Most franchises do not employ upwards of 500 people making them exempt. Unions would help employees demand this pay from both the major company and the franchises involved.
These conditions and interpretations are closely correlated with other workers demands, making so unions would be able to aid them in similar manners.
