大象传媒

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In April 2024, California became the first state in the nation to for fast-food workers at major corporate chains to $20 an hour. These workers now enjoy the highest base wage in the industry nationwide. The bill was recommended by the California-based , which is expected to vote on an additional wage hike of 3.5% this year.聽

Pro-industry voices have trotted out standard critiques of the wage hike. 鈥淎lthough the bump in pay is intended to help improve the standard of living for more than half a million fast-food workers, there may be unintended consequences that could do more harm to these employees, including restaurant closures, job cuts, reduced hours, and increased deployment of automation to bring down expenses,鈥澛爓rote Jack Kelly in .

But by University of California at Berkeley professor proves that such fears are unfounded. Reich, who chairs the , spoke with 大象传媒 Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on 大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about the overall impact of the fast food wage hike.