Fast Food Workers Striking?!?!?

MysteriousMerlin

Do I think they deserve that much money? Hell no. Do they deserve more than $7.25 - 7.50? It's hard to support a family on that. Not everyone can find a better job.

I don't even make $15 an hour, and I make plenty to live on. $15 is freaking high. I've worked fast food before (McDonalds), there's nothing you do there that would entitle someone to that much money, even in management.

I also don't feel a union is worth it. We can't even get a union for NURSES started, why would I worry about a high school kid that serves me my burger?

AmykinsCatfood

I just did the math and at a full 40 hours a week at $7.50/hour if you're a single person and need a 1 bedroom apartment, you can live off that no problem.

Not sure where you live but a one bedroom apartment here is anywhere between 1000-1800 dollars a month (admittedly I live in one of those areas with a ridiculously high cost of living). If you're making ~15,000 a year you're hardly covering rent alone.

I got a very nice apartment for $425/month all utilities but electric and phone were included. My electric bill was never higher than $20/month and my phone was a cell phone for $30/month. It wasn't large by any means but it was me and my son. No cable, no internet.

I pay $600 for a small one bedroom, no heat or lights in a bad neighbor hood. You've got it made. You have no right to complain about what others are being paid and that they should be able to afford necessities on $7.50/hr.

Azexas

Time to tick someone off.

Irritates me a little they are striking. Fast food has always been known as a minimum wage job. That is why it use to always be high school students working it when in school. It is not meant to be a career job. All these people complaining about not making enough AT A FAST FOOD place should be happy they even have a job because there are tons of unemployed people who would take their job OR they should try to get a better job and better themselves rather then working a brainless job and going nowhere but complaining.

On the news today i saw a lady who said she needed more money because she was a single mom working at McDonalds. While I respect single parents and their struggles to support their kids. But she needed more money because she was a single mom and pregnant with #2. Seriously if you are already having money problems......USE PROTECTION why be dumb and have a second kid if you are not making ends meet financially. Reminds of the movie Idiocracy.

:flowerforyou: Get out of my head! lol i almost wrote the exact same answer.

ObstacleRacer

No I didn't know you were being sarcastic. Because this is the internet and I can't hear the tone of your voice. Nothing in your post would lead anyone to think you were being sarcastic.

So how about you just admit you have nothing to back up your words and are using the "I was just being sarcastic" cop out to weasel out of the what you've said?

Moving on to the next bad argument...

dcarr67

I just did the math and at a full 40 hours a week at $7.50/hour if you're a single person and need a 1 bedroom apartment, you can live off that no problem.

if you can get 40...lets not forget there is a huge push for PT hours now. I dont know my math says it's pretty tight financially so you make $1200/mos before taxes. Lets say 20% for taxes, SSI, and medicare how does $960 take home sound? I live in rural California and I think you could find a place for about $600-700/month more if you lived in southern probably closer to $800-900. Are we driving to work or taking public transportation? Food $150...that would be terribly slim here because of the area I live a gallon of milk cost $5. Utilities we are all off propane and that is now $4/gal a small place let's assume $100/month to heat. Electricity easily $100. So without a car I'm getting a grand total of $10 left to spend.

To be acurate, a person making 7.50 hr isnt going to pay taxes. Hell they will probably get back more than they paid in because of the earned income credit.

ModernNerd

Here's a bizarre idea coming from a silly girl: reward results, not effort.

*mind blown*

:flowerforyou:

Wait wait wait...that is too simple of a concept. It must be wrong.

Read my comment above. If you want to pay them based on results McDonalds is going to owe them a HUGE raise.

These employees are the backbone of their operation and the entire reason they function. They are essential. Without them not $1 gets made. Given the choice between losing the CEO of the company and losing the front line workers the board would choose to get rid of the CEO every time.

They're people working hard and asking to be paid a reasonable wage. They aren't looking for a handout. They're trying to get off public assistance. They are your neighbors and they serve you on a regular basis.

Maybe some of you should stop looking down on them as a cheap way of feeling better about yourselves.

woahohohoho

I worked in the service industry in high school. So this isn't an elitist, "us vs them" viewpoint by any means, and it insults my intelligence that you would assume such. Then *poof* I'm a college student. Guess what, that *poof* isn't luck or a handout or me sitting around waiting for someone to give me a bucket o' cash. This is hard work and aspirations.

ObstacleRacer

So the gov't should just let people starve? No way jose.

The govt should not let them starve, i agree with. The government giving more stupid entiltlements to a greedy (im entitled to this) upcoming, thats were the line should be drawn.

For the tenth time, they aren't asking the government for anything. They are asking for a wage increase from their private employer, so they can get off government assistance.

Some of you need to stop patting yourselves on the back for how far you've come in life. Simple comprehension seems to be eluding a great many of you.

ajaxe432

So the gov't should just let people starve? No way jose.

The govt should not let them starve, i agree with. The government giving more stupid entiltlements to a greedy (im entitled to this) upcoming, thats were the line should be drawn.

For the tenth time, they aren't asking the government for anything. They are asking for a wage increase from their private employer, so they can get off government assistance.

Some of you need to stop patting yourselves on the back for how far you've come in life. Simple comprehension seems to be eluding a great many of you.

Everyone has a choice. What makes you an expert on my upcoming and how far I have come in life?

fbmandy55

Working fast food should be a stepping stone to getting a better job... not a career position. :bigsmile:

Yeah, because everyone has that choice in life. Not.

Everybody DOES have a choice. If you are working at McDonald's when you are 40, you made that choice. We all have similar opportunities in life. If a person decides to settle on a fast food service job, but can't seem to get ahead financially, should we just give them more without earning it?

I'm personally tired of putting in 50 to 60 hours a week to support my family and then be expected to pay out more for those that refuse to work or do the bare minimum. If you can't afford the latest and greatest gadgets on your current job, move on.

Actually, we don't have similar opportunities. Which is why we have fast food workers and why they are paid so little. Does anyone seriously think that they can just up and quit the job they are working and magically find a better paying one? They aren't trying to afford the latest and greatest gadgets, they are trying to keep a roof over their heads and food in their and their family's bellies. Oh, and maybe some electricity to run the lights and the heat in the winter.

FWIW, I don't think $15 per hour is reasonable, but $10.50 per hour would make a huge difference for people who are making so little.

Every single person I have ever known to work in fast food was there because they were a jackhole and chose to be there. Dropped out of school because it was "stupid', would prefer to play video games or watch tv or get drunk over doing something productive (not that I don't enjoy those things AFTER being productive) or just plain have no initiative and do the bare minimum to get by in life. THEIR CHOICES.

I once worked with a woman who was so poor, she slept in her car, in the parking lot, when she first started her 'good paying' job until that first check. THAT is how a person in a rough spot better's their life.

vtmoon

I just did the math and at a full 40 hours a week at $7.50/hour if you're a single person and need a 1 bedroom apartment, you can live off that no problem.

Not sure where you live but a one bedroom apartment here is anywhere between 1000-1800 dollars a month (admittedly I live in one of those areas with a ridiculously high cost of living). If you're making ~15,000 a year you're hardly covering rent alone.

I got a very nice apartment for $425/month all utilities but electric and phone were included. My electric bill was never higher than $20/month and my phone was a cell phone for $30/month. It wasn't large by any means but it was me and my son. No cable, no internet.

Very nice apartment for 425??? in America? with electric and phone? Are you sure you don't mean a room in a nice apartment and not a whole apartment?

RunsOnEspresso

I'm surprised no one has brought up how when people are paid better they tend to work harder and there is low turnover, which cuts down on training costs for businesses. If you pay people minimum wage, they will give you minimum effort.

But then again, I am taking a labor econ course this semester, so, maybe that isn't common knowledge.

That's what I was alluding to in my previous post. Maybe these companies such as McDonald's have done studies to find that paying employees minimum wage and having high turnover is no more profitable than paying a higher wage such as Costco and having less turnover. Who are you, I or anyone else to try to dictate one way or the other. If said employee wants a higher wage, what is stopping them from leaving and going to Costco.....other than they might actual have to work hard to earn that wage.

Because Costco has extremely low turnover. Surprise, surprise, since they pay well.

I think the point is Costco and McDonalds have different business models. Turnover is a cost. Some companies place a high value on lowering this cost (Costco) while others don't value it as much (McDonalds). Costco may have higher costs in training. hiring etc. McDondalds probably doesn't see high turnover as a problem because of a high supply of people applying and/or lower training and hiring costs. Costco may be more selective in their hiring process. Costco may place ads while McDonalds just always has people asking for applications.

Costco probably also places more value on getting and keeping customers while McDonalds know losing one customer isn't going to put a dent in the bottom line.

NinjadURbacon

I just did the math and at a full 40 hours a week at $7.50/hour if you're a single person and need a 1 bedroom apartment, you can live off that no problem.

Where is this math? so we can agree with you on it!

I am rather good with math $7.50 x 40 hours x 52 weeks a year=$15,600 conservatively 1/3 paid in taxes is $10,296 take home. Broken up into 12 months is 10,296/12= $858 per month. That will barely cover rent.

But this is also where food stamps come into play. A lot of people who make this low of income are able to get food stamps on top of this. Low income housing has rent $500-800 depending on location. Where I live now it is $400. In oregon where i lived it was $500. In my home state of california it was $550.

Fast Food is not a job for someone to live off of. People should use it as means to find a better job and leave it to part time workers like high school students and college students.

jonnythan

Time to tick someone off.

Irritates me a little they are striking. Fast food has always been known as a minimum wage job. That is why it use to always be high school students working it when in school. It is not meant to be a career job. All these people complaining about not making enough AT A FAST FOOD place should be happy they even have a job because there are tons of unemployed people who would take their job OR they should try to get a better job and better themselves rather then working a brainless job and going nowhere but complaining.

On the news today i saw a lady who said she needed more money because she was a single mom working at McDonalds. While I respect single parents and their struggles to support their kids. But she needed more money because she was a single mom and pregnant with #2. Seriously if you are already having money problems......USE PROTECTION why be dumb and have a second kid if you are not making ends meet financially. Reminds of the movie Idiocracy.

Oh boy. I love when the "don't have kids if you're poor" argument comes up.

While you may not like it, it is true. Our welfare problem wouldn't be near as bad if people weren't rewarded for bad behavior. Wht should we, as tax payers, have to support someones poor choices???? They have the choice not to have sex, or at the very least use protection!!

The problem with it is that it's just another cognitive trick to blame the poor person. The argument just lets the person blow off what the real issues are, and the real issues are that the system is staggeringly unfair.

tzig00

I just did the math and at a full 40 hours a week at $7.50/hour if you're a single person and need a 1 bedroom apartment, you can live off that no problem.

Not sure where you live but a one bedroom apartment here is anywhere between 1000-1800 dollars a month (admittedly I live in one of those areas with a ridiculously high cost of living). If you're making ~15,000 a year you're hardly covering rent alone.

I got a very nice apartment for $425/month all utilities but electric and phone were included. My electric bill was never higher than $20/month and my phone was a cell phone for $30/month. It wasn't large by any means but it was me and my son. No cable, no internet.

I pay $600 for a small one bedroom, no heat or lights in a bad neighbor hood. You've got it made. You have no right to complain about what others are being paid and that they should be able to afford necessities on $7.50/hr.

Did I say I was living there now? No. I was living there when I was making $9/hour with a kid and making ends meet. I thankfully wasn't paying daycare but I did have to pay for diapers and wipes and laundry and I made it work. No, you don't have the kind of money to go out to eat or go have a drink or pay a babysitter so you can go out with friends or go out and buy a steak but you make it work. I'm not going to say how much I make now but I will say it's not much more and I have 2 kids and rent that's $200 more and a baby daddy that ran out and can't be found to pay support and because it's a bigger place a bigger electric bill and daycare costs now. I'm still doing it on my own with my job because I went out and found one that's paying more. I don't know where some of you are living that say no one is hiring because there's always a company looking to get rid of someone if the right person comes along. It doesn't hurt to try.

Fullsterkur_woman

Time to tick someone off.

Irritates me a little they are striking. Fast food has always been known as a minimum wage job. That is why it use to always be high school students working it when in school. It is not meant to be a career job. All these people complaining about not making enough AT A FAST FOOD place should be happy they even have a job because there are tons of unemployed people who would take their job OR they should try to get a better job and better themselves rather then working a brainless job and going nowhere but complaining.

On the news today i saw a lady who said she needed more money because she was a single mom working at McDonalds. While I respect single parents and their struggles to support their kids. But she needed more money because she was a single mom and pregnant with #2. Seriously if you are already having money problems......USE PROTECTION why be dumb and have a second kid if you are not making ends meet financially. Reminds of the movie Idiocracy.

Oh boy. I love when the "don't have kids if you're poor" argument comes up.

Well, it worked for me. I took advantage of the educational and health resources that are offered to every high schooler so that I could actually reach the age of 17 without becoming pregnant and so that I could graduate high school. And then my husband put me through college by serving his country, then I put him through college with the help of the veterans' benefits he earned by serving his country, and now two poor kids turned themselves into middle-class adults by opting out of the breeding game.

But somehow, magically, all the other poor people have had that option taken away from them?

vtmoon

Working fast food should be a stepping stone to getting a better job... not a career position. :bigsmile:

Yeah, because everyone has that choice in life. Not.

Everybody DOES have a choice. If you are working at McDonald's when you are 40, you made that choice. We all have similar opportunities in life. If a person decides to settle on a fast food service job, but can't seem to get ahead financially, should we just give them more without earning it?

I'm personally tired of putting in 50 to 60 hours a week to support my family and then be expected to pay out more for those that refuse to work or do the bare minimum. If you can't afford the latest and greatest gadgets on your current job, move on.

Actually, we don't have similar opportunities. Which is why we have fast food workers and why they are paid so little. Does anyone seriously think that they can just up and quit the job they are working and magically find a better paying one? They aren't trying to afford the latest and greatest gadgets, they are trying to keep a roof over their heads and food in their and their family's bellies. Oh, and maybe some electricity to run the lights and the heat in the winter.

FWIW, I don't think $15 per hour is reasonable, but $10.50 per hour would make a huge difference for people who are making so little.

Every single person I have ever known to work in fast food was there because they were a jackhole and chose to be there. Dropped out of school because it was "stupid', would prefer to play video games or watch tv or get drunk over doing something productive (not that I don't enjoy those things AFTER being productive) or just plain have no initiative and do the bare minimum to get by in life. THEIR CHOICES.

I once worked with a woman who was so poor, she slept in her car, in the parking lot, when she first started her 'good paying' job until that first check. THAT is how a person in a rough spot better's their life.

She steal that car? cause to be given a car is socialism and against everything this thread is about, which is pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.

impemberstar

I have a college education, student loan debt of $30,000, and work my *kitten* off in a highly cerebrial position at a lawfirm as a case management analyst / specialist making $16/hr (Insiders hint: I'm the lowest paid person here). I will rue the day some unskilled carbon converter flipping burgers makes the same ammount of money I do because they feel entitled and throw a hissy fit.

ldrosophila

I just did the math and at a full 40 hours a week at $7.50/hour if you're a single person and need a 1 bedroom apartment, you can live off that no problem.

if you can get 40...lets not forget there is a huge push for PT hours now. I dont know my math says it's pretty tight financially so you make $1200/mos before taxes. Lets say 20% for taxes, SSI, and medicare how does $960 take home sound? I live in rural California and I think you could find a place for about $600-700/month more if you lived in southern probably closer to $800-900. Are we driving to work or taking public transportation? Food $150...that would be terribly slim here because of the area I live a gallon of milk cost $5. Utilities we are all off propane and that is now $4/gal a small place let's assume $100/month to heat. Electricity easily $100. So without a car I'm getting a grand total of $10 left to spend.

To be acurate, a person making 7.50 hr isnt going to pay taxes. Hell they will probably get back more than they paid in because of the earned income credit.

i remember paying into taxes back when i made that much as a single person, no chidren and only getting a partial amount back also you continue to pay into SSI and medicare. I dont know the amount now, but I'm pretty sure something is still being taken out of your paycheck.

Fullsterkur_woman

Time to tick someone off.

Irritates me a little they are striking. Fast food has always been known as a minimum wage job. That is why it use to always be high school students working it when in school. It is not meant to be a career job. All these people complaining about not making enough AT A FAST FOOD place should be happy they even have a job because there are tons of unemployed people who would take their job OR they should try to get a better job and better themselves rather then working a brainless job and going nowhere but complaining.

On the news today i saw a lady who said she needed more money because she was a single mom working at McDonalds. While I respect single parents and their struggles to support their kids. But she needed more money because she was a single mom and pregnant with #2. Seriously if you are already having money problems......USE PROTECTION why be dumb and have a second kid if you are not making ends meet financially. Reminds of the movie Idiocracy.

Oh boy. I love when the "don't have kids if you're poor" argument comes up.

While you may not like it, it is true. Our welfare problem wouldn't be near as bad if people weren't rewarded for bad behavior. Wht should we, as tax payers, have to support someones poor choices???? They have the choice not to have sex, or at the very least use protection!!

The problem with it is that it's just another cognitive trick to blame the poor person. The argument just lets the person blow off what the real issues are, and the real issues are that the system is staggeringly unfair.

That makes no sense. It's just objective reality. We were poor and now we're not. And we didn't "deserve" anything other than what we *earned* in the job that we were working. We worked the jobs, we improved ourselves, we got better jobs. Lather, rinse, repeat.

ObstacleRacer

woahohohoho

I worked in the service industry in high school. So this isn't an elitist, "us vs them" viewpoint by any means, and it insults my intelligence that you would assume such. Then *poof* I'm a college student. Guess what, that *poof* isn't luck or a handout or me sitting around waiting for someone to give me a bucket o' cash. This is hard work and aspirations.

Typically I wouldn't make this personal, because anecdotal evidence is useless. But chose to use yourself as an example, soooo...

Ok. Do tell. You went to college. Was it because:


A. Your parents paid for it
B. Student loans paid for it (government assistance)
C. You earned the money through your service industry job


Because A is luck, B is a handout, and C is nearly impossible.

So which is it?

Everyone loves to take all the credit for their accomplishments. They tend to forget all the help they received along the way.