Fast Food Workers Strikes = Win for better health

_Terrapin_

Average time spent in the FF industry? 8 months. Woo Hoo!

FancyPantsFran

AmyOwl73

In case anyone is prepared for some "light" reading...

The following is Testimony before Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, United States Senate
given by James Sherk, Senior Policy Analyst in Labor Economics

http://www.heritage.org/research/testimony/2013/06/what-is-minimum-wage-its-history-and-effects-on-the-economy

And followup questions for the record:
http://www.heritage.org/research/testimony/2013/11/what-is-minimum-wage

AllOutof_Bubblegum

If MW increases, the price of goods and services will also increase. Nobody will actually have more money because they will be paying more for the things they buy. My prediction would be that if fast food employees got 15 an hour the price of food would go up to make sure the company doesn't lose money. That 2$ burger will 6$ or more. Who is going to pay that? Fast food restaurants will lose money because people won't pay the higher prices and then the fast food restaurant will start firing workers because they don't have the business to warrant that number of employees.

So Mcdonald's quarterly profit margins go from 19% to 15%. Boo frickin hoo. The CEO's still a billionaire.

ninerbuff

If MW increases, the price of goods and services will also increase. Nobody will actually have more money because they will be paying more for the things they buy. My prediction would be that if fast food employees got 15 an hour the price of food would go up to make sure the company doesn't lose money. That 2$ burger will 6$ or more. Who is going to pay that? Fast food restaurants will lose money because people won't pay the higher prices and then the fast food restaurant will start firing workers because they don't have the business to warrant that number of employees.

Lol, burgers were $0.49 when I was getting them at McD's in the 70's. Guess what? People are still buying them. Why? Because people understand inflation.

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_Terrapin_

Is this Willard Scott back in the day?

Dgydad

Idiotic! Just stupid, man. These people don't give a rat's rump about what you cram into your piehole - this is about money, period. Likewise, if you're pathetic enough to require others to act to prevent you from eating "junk", why should anyone care what you think?

jesszing

It's not so much that they shouldn't make minimum wage, it's more about fair working conditions and livable wage/hours. Minimum wage isn't a liveable wage in most states and then to top it off the fast food places only give their workers about 10 hours a week but they make their schedules sporadically making it very hard for them to get a second job.

Any job that is minimum wage shouldn't be a job you depend on for steady money. It's a transitional job for those in between jobs or just starting out in the work force (teenagers) or trying to keep occupied (retired).

If you need a second job to keep going, you are probably looking for the wrong type of job in the first place.

Anywhooooo..... Yeah this topic doesn't make sense. They are just going to hire cheaper labor.

randomtai

If you need a second job to keep going, you are probably looking for the wrong type of job in the first place.

Like the EMT from earlier? :huh: :noway:

ninerbuff

It's not an issue of whether or not someone should get a raise it's the issue of wanting to raise the minimum wage to $15/hr. So ok. The minimum wage is raised to $15/hr. So the people who are now earning that have some extra cash in their pocket which they spend. Fine but then they complain that they can't live on the $15/hr increase because they're spending that extra money they have so they need more so lets raise it to $20/hr. Then $30/hr. Where does it stop?

Um, when I was 18 and working minimum wage jobs, the pay way $3.25 an hour. Somehow our economy has survived the current minimum wage without the country going under.
What I find ironic here is "skilled" people all over America complaining about the minimum wage raise proposal on "unskilled" workers in fast food/restaurant industry, yet aren't "skilled" enough to prepare food for themselves or family, so they go to place where "unskilled" workers do it for them.:laugh:

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If you raise the minimum wage dramatically then you have to raise everyone else's wages to compensate for the increase. If the minimum wage is increased to say $30/hr then the person who currently gets paid $30/hr wouldn't want to be paid "minimum wage" so their compensation would need to be increased which would cause a hardship on companies big and small. As it stands if the minimum wage is increased to $15/hr there are a lot of small businesses who won't be able to support this and therefore will have to let people go.

This same argument has been made for decades whenever the proposal to raise minimum wage comes up. Most small businesses are ran by families and family members. The ones that do have employees compensate by raising prices. Restaurants that people have frequented for years have seen price increases. Again, if what you say is totally valid, then economically we should have gone done a long time ago.

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VeryKatie

The minimum wage where I live has already increased to over $10. It hasn't helped anything.

Well maybe that's not true. School kids now buy cell phones and such. And yet welfare problems remain the same. At least I would say it doesn't appear to help where it matters.

pepperpat64

Maybe this will make an impression on those who think this minimum wage increase will benefit fast food workers (or anyone else):

Also:

The Daily Signal also reports that when this is applied to some of our favorite fast food items:
A Big Mac meal increases from $5.69 to $7.82.
Wendy’s Son of a Baconator combo increases from $6.49 to $8.92.
Taco Bell’s 3 crunchy tacos combo increases from $4.59 to $6.31.
A Whopper meal increases from $6.15 to $8.46.
Subway’s turkey breast Footlong increases from $6.50 to $8.94.

Edit- the image is huge, here is the direct URL: http://static.ijreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Screen-Shot-2014-09-04-at-10.03.58-PM-1024x529.png?10ae6a

The Heritage Foundation is a highly biased source.

MrsPong

I make a decent living.. I have a masters level education, 3 years in my field. When I started I made 11 dollars and hour...worked up a few bucks since then. I have a baby- now 6 year old when I went to college. I'm paying off my loan debt.

My husband who is a United State Marines after 10 years STILL serving, only makes about 38 grand a year WITH a family... someone who TRAINED FROM BOOTCAMP and serving, barely makes 20 grand a year starting out for the first few years, unless they marry and have a child- then it's a little more... fair for someone who is giving their life to their country, while fast food workers demand 15$? Not fair.
(And we don't receive "FREE" healthcare, its not free, we pay for it monthly and we pay taxes which pretty much pay ourselves... plus we pay for dental and almost 50% of that out of pocket for anything it doesn't cover.)

I interview, hire, train C.N.A's.. they do not make $15 an hour...some should, its a dirty job. They work with multiple agencies to make ends meet...you meet a few who demand a lot of money (15$ isn't far from my wages ) Are good C.N.A's make more than the others- bc we can depend on them-- therefore they get a "raise" bc they are worth it. We don't give everyone a raise bc they demand it.. all by the person, not group.

If any 2 jobs that I see deserve an increase-- it would be those. (teachers deserve raises if they are great also- like my daughters!)

ninerbuff

I make a decent living.. I have a masters level education, 3 years in my field. When I started I made 11 dollars and hour...worked up a few bucks since then. I have a baby- now 6 year old when I went to college. I'm paying off my loan debt.

My husband who is a United State Marines after 10 years STILL serving, only makes about 38 grand a year WITH a family... someone who TRAINED FROM BOOTCAMP and serving, barely makes 20 grand a year starting out for the first few years, unless they marry and have a child- then it's a little more... fair for someone who is giving their life to their country, while fast food workers demand 15$? Not fair.
(And we don't receive "FREE" healthcare, its not free, we pay for it monthly and we pay taxes which pretty much pay ourselves... plus we pay for dental and almost 50% of that out of pocket for anything it doesn't cover.)

I interview, hire, train C.N.A's.. they do not make $15 an hour...some should, its a dirty job. They work with multiple agencies to make ends meet...you meet a few who demand a lot of money (15$ isn't far from my wages ) If any 2 jobs that I see deserve an increase-- it would be those.

We keep seeing this argument. "I don't make much money, neither should they."

Maybe instead of trying to keep others down you should be fighting for better wages too.

Agree here. Everyone seems to be fighting the wrong fight here. The real culprits are the CEO's, VP's, etc. who are making MILLIONS of the backs of the work of their employees. Now don't get me wrong, I'm NOT against people making money, but when someone makes $200 million a year (how much does one really need to live?) you gotta wonder how pay is really being doled out by corporations. Remember board members and investors help to decide how people are payed regardless of where they work.

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randomtai

If you need a second job to keep going, you are probably looking for the wrong type of job in the first place.

Like the EMT from earlier? :huh: :noway:

Yea, I don't know about that statement. I wouldn't say I sought out the wrong job. I could have positioned myself better in life I had applied myself harder in high school and finished college, but I can't turn back time. I do something I'm passionate about and can be incredible at times when you really feel you made a difference in someone's life.

I wonder if she would say I chose the wrong job if he kid was in need of our services or her parents were having a massive cardiac event. Would I walk into your house and you would say "You chose the wrong career but I need your help"?

I definitely agree here... the fact that EMT's make so little for such a thankless job especially here in NYC to have to require a second job is appalling. NYC is effed up in so many ways I just can't some days.

djprice_69

If you people really, truly, honestly believe that fast-food workers should be making $15/hr, then by all means: use your own money to start a fast food join (or ANY other business) and pay your labor force $15/hr. Until then, you have absolutely no right to demand any one individual make any more (or less) than you do, or that any business should pay their workers more, just because you believe it to be fair (or unfair).

Grow up - this is the real world.

ksy1969

Maybe this will make an impression on those who think this minimum wage increase will benefit fast food workers (or anyone else):

Also:

The Daily Signal also reports that when this is applied to some of our favorite fast food items:
A Big Mac meal increases from $5.69 to $7.82.
Wendy’s Son of a Baconator combo increases from $6.49 to $8.92.
Taco Bell’s 3 crunchy tacos combo increases from $4.59 to $6.31.
A Whopper meal increases from $6.15 to $8.46.
Subway’s turkey breast Footlong increases from $6.50 to $8.94.

Edit- the image is huge, here is the direct URL: http://static.ijreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Screen-Shot-2014-09-04-at-10.03.58-PM-1024x529.png?10ae6a

The Heritage Foundation is a highly biased source.

As soon as I seen the source was the Heritage Foundation I knew this comment was coming. :laugh: There is such a hatred for some sources that just because someone sees the name the data is automatically suspect. Oh Noes, that is that conservative foundation. Lets all run for the hills :sad:

Just my 2 cents on the whole thing. I have worked fast food, retail, construction and gradually worked myself up into a position that paid me well sitting on my *kitten*. Which by the way is when I got obese!! I did this on a partial un-finished college education. I did this because I didn't want to keep making minimum wage. I seen opportunities and I took them. Every job I ever had I ended up in a leadership type position. Why because I wasn't afraid to learn and do more than was asked of me. I wasn't afraid to grab extra hours. I remember several part time jobs I had that I usually ended up working 40 hours simply because I was willing to work. So many of the people I worked with in these jobs found any excuse they could to get out of working. I would then get the phone call asking if I could work since so and so called in sick. I can assure you they weren't sick. How would I know, well I was out with them the night before. It is all about choices.

I do not look down on anyone that works for minimum wage. I look down on people that like to complain about their situation and just want money handed to them. I agree that minimum wage should probably be higher, but I also don't think it should be $15. People need an incentive to move on. Especially with this new generation we have coming out of High School. So many of them, if they could get a job making $15 working at a McD's or a convenience store, they would never go anywhere.

I am sorry that some adults find them in a situation where they have to work for minimum wage again. Who knows I could end up there again some day. It still does not negate the fact that these jobs that you are all talking about, are entry level jobs. They are not meant to make house payments on.

parkscs

I don't really see a problem with people striking to try and negotiate a better wage. That's just a negotiation tactic. I don't think they will see it a $15/hour paycheck any time soon, but they're free to ask for it. Even without organized labor, you're free to ask for a raise, look to take a job next door if they're willing to offer you a better salary package, and so on. I would have a much bigger problem if people were pushing for a nationwide $15 hour minimum wage, but realistically we aren't anywhere near that happening nor would it be good for our economy (quite to the contrary, it'd be nothing short of disastrous).

Honestly I'd leave "deserves" and what's "fair" out of it. It's business. Fast food companies are going to do what's in the best interests of their shareholders - for that matter, a publicly traded company like McDonalds has a fiduciary duty to do so. As an employee or a potential employee, you need to watch out for yourself and do what's in your own best interests. If you don't like your wage, ask for a better one or find a better job. You aren't obliged to keep showing up to work and settling for what they're currently giving you. If you can't find a better wage for your skill set, well, odds are your wage wasn't as unfair as you thought it was and if you want to move up, what you need to change is your skill set.

But at the end of the day, there will always be bottom-tier jobs. If you put your life on a trajectory where you're trying to raise a family working those jobs, you're going to have a rough go of it. But that also serves as an incentive for people to apply themselves and to avoid that trajectory through life. There is still ample opportunity in this country for people to get a good education and there are still good jobs out there for the people who do well in school and work hard.