Fast-food workers urge council to back ordinance for predictable schedules, paid sick leave and safety training

Fast-food workers and advocates urged the Los Angeles City Council to adopt an ordinance establishing predictable schedules, paid sick leave and training during public comment at the council’s Feb. 26, 2025 meeting at Los Angeles City Hall.

The speakers told the council that erratic scheduling, sudden cuts to hours and insufficient safety training leave employees — many of them single parents — vulnerable to financial hardship and on-the-job risks. “Estoy pidiendo que apoye la ordenanza de trabajo para la comida rápida para asegurar que cada empleado sepa sus derechos,” said Amalia Ramírez, a fast-food worker, during the public-comment period.

The appeal came amid a string of public comments focused on labor conditions in the quick-service food industry. Anisha Williams, who identified herself as a single mother of six, described frequent schedule cuts that she said left her unable to secure housing and basic necessities. “Me han cortado mis horas, me han quitado del horario,” she said. Alejandra Aguilar Pérez described encountering customers she believed to be under the influence and said workers lacked training to safely handle those situations: “nos gustaría tener la capacitación adecuada para poder lidiar con las personas bajo los efectos de las drogas que nos podría al final poner en tanto peligro.”

Council staff and the council president read the procedures for public comment and noted which agenda items were open to oral testimony. Those speakers addressed the agenda matter covering points 22–27, 29–31 and 43, but their remarks tied to the broader request that the council move forward on the proposed fast-food worker protections.

The comments supplied personal examples rather than technical language about a specific draft ordinance. Speakers asked for measures including predictable, sustainable schedules; paid sick leave and paid rest time; clear information on workers’ rights; and employer-provided safety training. They said those changes would help employees plan medical care, manage childcare and avoid situations that they described as dangerous on the job.

The council did not take floor debate on a specific fast-food ordinance text during the public-comment period recorded in the transcript. Members of the public were given standard time limits for remarks; several speakers used the allotted minute to describe their experiences and to urge the council to place an ordinance on a future agenda.

The testimony adds to previously published worker complaints and ongoing organizing by labor groups seeking municipal protections for fast-food employees. The council’s formal consideration or scheduling of any ordinance text was not recorded in the public-comment excerpts in the meeting transcript.