California gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a “groundbreaking” bill that could boost wages for the state’s fast-food workers to up to $22 per hour, according to a new Axios report.

The Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act, or AB 257, aims to create a ten-member Fast Food Council with equal numbers of workers’ delegates and employers’ representatives, along with two state officials, empowered to set minimum standards for wages, hours, and working conditions in the state.

The new law will cap minimum wage increases for fast-food employees at chains with more than 100 restaurants at $22 an hour beginning next year, with cost of living increases tacked on thereafter. The statewide minimum wage is $15 an hour for employers with more than twenty-six workers and $14 an hour for all other workers.

“California is committed to ensuring that the men and women who have helped build our world-class economy are able to share in the state's prosperity,” Newsom said in a statement.

“Today's action gives hardworking fast food workers a stronger voice and seat at the table to set fair wages and critical health and safety standards across the industry,” he continued. “I’m proud to sign this legislation on Labor Day, when we pay tribute to the workers who keep our state running as we build a stronger, more inclusive economy for all Californians.”

Per CBS News, members of Fight for $15, an advocacy group that has helped lead the effort for a higher minimum wage across the country, applauded the passage of the bill.

“We've gone on strike, marched in the streets and rallied across the state to make sure our demand for a voice on the job was heard even as powerful corporations pulled out all the stops to silence us,” Anneisha Williams, a Los Angeles fast-food worker and leader in the Fight for $15, said in a release.  

“We look forward to having a say in creating safe and healthy workplaces across the fast-food industry and to AB 257 serving as a model for workers across the country who desperately need a seat at the table,” she added.

However, some restaurant owners and franchisers expressed concerns that the new law would only increase consumer costs.

“By signing AB 257 into law, Governor Newsom has not leveled the playing field but instead targeted one slice of California's small businesses and consumers who rely on counter service restaurants to feed their families,” the campaign to stop the law said in a statement.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and hasn’t been adjusted since 2009.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Washington state-based Finance and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.

Image: Reuters.