1y ago

Gov. Gavin Newsom's campaign donor says his Panera Bread restaurants will follow new minimum wage law after backlash

abcnews.go.com

Gov. Gavin Newsom's campaign donor says his Panera Bread restaurants will follow minimum wage law

68 comments

“California's statewide minimum wage is $16 per hour. Newsom signed a law last year that says fast food restaurants that are part of a chain with at least 60 locations nationally must pay their workers at least $20 per hour beginning April 1. But the law does not apply to restaurants that have their own bakeries to make and sell bread as a stand-alone menu item.”
Is there an explanation as to why making your own bread means minimum wage laws cannot be applied to businesses that otherwise meet these requirements?
- The explanation:
  Flynn has been a generous donor to Newsom’s political campaigns, including contributing $100,000 to fight a failed recall effort against the governor. Bloomberg reported that the two men attended the same high school. Flynn also acquired a resort managed by Newsom’s hospitality business in 2014, but terminated the management contract about a year after the purchase, according to the news outlet.
  https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-02-29/newsoms-office-calls-allegations-about-panera-bread-franchisee-absurd-says-company-is-not-exempt-from-law
  
  That is unfortunate. Absolute red meat for both-sides-are-bad politics.
- Yeah...
  He's a neoliberal and gets donations from Panera....
  Cali should be full of progressives. But there's lots of money in being an incumbent in a seat the other party can't win.
  Hell, Pelosi and AIPAC just got another I to the Senate. He'll keep taking donor money well after Pelosi is buried, and preventing a candidate that agrees with Cali voters from taking that seat for decades.
  It can't change till we get them out of power in the Dem party, but we can't compete with their do ors money in a primary.
  These days were lucky if we even get a primary.
  Shit needs to change while it's still able to change
  We need money out of politics.
  
  Money is always been and will always be the problem.
- It states why in the article.
Subway must be stoked. They don’t have to raise pay, and Panera is getting all the heat.
- Anyone that voluntarily eats at Subway was probably a lost cause to begin with.
  
  Their build your own sub thing is pretty neat (if insanely expensive) Honestly between them, Jimmy Johns, and Jersey Mikes, I think they win.
  
  Nice meme.
  I can tell you can think for yourself.
Doesn't matter, I won't eat at Panera any more.
- Because of this or because it's like 50% more expensive than it has any right to be?
  
  Yes
- How many housecats do you have to eat before your palette becomes refined enough to discern the flavor?
- Well, it is, because newsom got an exception for restaurants with a standalone "bread" menu item and some caveats that basically made it only apply to Panera Bread.
  (Incidentally, This is the essence how the whole federal tax codes and tariff schedules work)
Seems like a win for workers to me.
I’d like to hear from some of the Panera Bread employees about what type of boss Flynn is.
- Win for Panera employees, loss for literally everyone else because it's so thoroughly normalized for politicians to narrowly tailor laws to favor friends that such a high profile incident is not even raising any flags in political circles.

68 comments