Unions Team Up With Fast-Food Owners

Last May, California’s state Senate passed a bill intended to give franchise owners a stronger hand in dealing with their corporate franchise systems. The bill stalled in the Assembly, but franchise owners are back in Sacramento this week pushing an amended version. And they’re getting support from an unlikely ally: the Service Employees International Union, whose campaign for higher wages for fast-food workers places it at odds with many franchise owners.

The bill would make it harder for franchisors to terminate franchisees, and would bring California closer in line with Hawaii, Washington, and other states with what supporters call “fair franchising” laws. Labor groups support it on the theory that making franchisees more independent will translate into better treatment for workers.