Wednesday, November 20

Fast food and healthcare workers could receive new pay adjustment in California

Health care workers' wages will be approximately $23 per hour next year if the request is approved.
Health care workers’ wages will be approximately $23 per hour next year if the request is approved.

Photo: Shutterstock / Shutterstock

Arlenys Tabare

Following a new agreement with around 60 fast food chains and health care centers in California, workers in these areas will be able to begin receiving significant salary increases in the coming months.

The negotiations are taking place between unions and restaurant owners, who agreed that starting in April of next year The minimum wage will be $20 per hour.. The agreement finished being presented to the California legislature this Monday.

The beneficiaries will be about the state’s 500,000 fast food workers and 455,000 health care employees, but doctors and nurses will be excluded.

In this sense, the international president of the Service Employees Union, Mary Kay Henry, pointed out that “Fast food cooks and cashiers have fundamentally changed salary policy in this country and they have reshaped what workers believe is possible when they come together and take on corporate power and systemic racism,” he told The Associated Press.

To finalize the agreement with the salary adjustment, the state Legislature must approve the proposals no later than this Friday and then before being signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom.

How much will the salary be?

The wage increase for healthcare workers is estimated to be approximately $23 per hour next year; however, adjustments according to the agreement will be made progressively over the next 10 yearsit is expected to reach $25 per hour by 2026.

For its part, within the negotiation it is anticipated that for workers in the fast food industry, can increase wages by $20 per hour each year up to a maximum of 3.5%.

In this regard, the executive director of the California Service Employees International Union, Tia Orr, highlighted that “everyone in the health sector understands that we have a workforce crisis and that wages are the essential prerequisite for any solution,” she said. , therefore, “With this increase, more workers will join and remain in the healthcare workforce and, as a result, Californians will be safer and better served,” he said.

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