California fast food restaurants have cut 10,000 jobs since passing $20 minimum wage

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s successful push to hike the minimum wage for many of the state’s fast food workers is having a devastating impact on businesses, who have been forced to cut labor costs to survive, critics say.

Prices at major brands like Chipotle, McDonald’s and other fast food giants have increased in a move to keep up with the $20 per hour workers have been paid since the new wage went into effect on April 1. The rule impacts restaurants that have at least 60 locations nationwide, except those that make and sell their own bread.

The California Business and Industrial Alliance (CABIA) said nearly 10,000 jobs have been cut across fast food restaurants since Newsom signed California Assembly Bill 1287 into law last year.

To highlight what it says are the unintended consequences of the law, CABIA has taken out an ad in Thursdsay’s statewide edition of USA Today with mock “obituaries” of popular fast food brands.

It highlights multiple restaurants that have had to raise prices and lay off workers to stay afloat and, in some cases, shut down stores. The ad features news clips documenting changes made by brands like El Pollo Loco, Subway and Burger King across the state.

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