Mayor Bill de Blasio is making a push to get fast-food workers more predictable work schedules. The effort will require City Council legislation and will give the mayor a chance to wrap his arms around an issue that may help him rally his base. NY1's Grace Rauh filed the following report.

It's the next front in the fight to improve working conditions for the men and women behind the counter at McDonald's and other fast-food chains, people like Calvin Spencer.

"I won't know my schedule until the week that I have to work," Spencer siad.

Mayor Bill de Blasio says fast-food employees deserve to know when they have to work with more advance notice. It would give them time to line up child care, make appointments, juggle a second job and live their lives without the stress of an ever-changing work schedule. 

"If you want an example of the tale of two cities, if you want an example of how the 1 percent have gotten wealthier on the backs of working people, here you have it: the fast-food industry," de Blasio said.

The mayor announced that legislation is being drafted in the City Council to regulate the fast-food industry's approach to employee schedules. 

The bill would require most employee schedules to be announced two weeks in advance. Workers would also be paid extra to compensate for last-minute changes.

The legislation would also end the practice of having an employee close up late at night and open early the next morning. 

"I think it's a culture change," de Blasio said. "I think it says to the corporations that they have to treat their workers with respect. That has not been the reality of these giant fast-food corporations."

The president and CEO of the New York State Restaurant Association said, "It's troubling that fast food restaurants, which are really a local franchisee-run small business, have been singled out yet again when these restaurants are already being subjected to greater regulations than any other industry." 

When de Blasio ran for mayor three years ago, he pledged to close the gap between the wealthiest New Yorkers and those struggling to pay the bills.

The mayor says he expects the legislation to be passed later this year, just as his re-election bid will be heating up.