A labor dispute with potential consequences for hundreds of thousands of franchise operators nationwide was set to get a public airing in Mobile this week, as two members of Congress convened a rare field hearing on the University of South Alabama campus.
U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Fairhope, invited U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tennessee, chairman of the House subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions, to lead the session at the university’s Student Center Ballroom on Campus Drive. Byrne described the underlying issue as consequential for businesses well beyond the coast.
“This will affect every franchise and franchisee in the nation,” Byrne said in the days leading up to the hearing.
The hearing was called in response to a National Labor Relations Board decision that redefined when a parent corporation can be considered a “joint employer” alongside its franchisees. Under the new standard, companies like fast-food chains could be held legally responsible for labor practices at independently owned locations, including wages, working conditions and collective bargaining rights, even when those locations are run day-to-day by a franchisee rather than the corporation itself.
The ruling followed years of organizing by fast-food workers pushing for higher pay, with many calling for a $15 hourly minimum wage well above the federal floor of $7.25. It also came shortly after the board rejected an attempt by a major fast-food chain to delay or overturn the joint-employer designation, a decision the company has said it intends to appeal.
Byrne’s office said the Mobile hearing would give lawmakers a chance to hear directly from people affected by the change, including franchise owners and a labor attorney from Alabama, rather than debating the issue only in Washington. A spokesman for Byrne said such field hearings are uncommon, and that securing one for Mobile was notable.
Byrne added that the ripple effects could extend beyond fast food into contracting, subcontracting and other industries that rely on franchise-style business structures across the country.
While litigation over the ruling was expected to play out in federal court, Byrne suggested Congress had its own role to play, saying lawmakers could pursue legislation to clarify federal labor statutes governing joint-employer status.
The hearing, open to the public, offered South Alabama residents an uncommon opportunity to watch a national economic policy debate unfold in their own backyard, with direct implications for local franchise owners across the retail, restaurant and service industries in Mobile and the surrounding region.