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McDonald's is helping their employees

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akaMrsmojo
akaMrsmojo Posts: 762 Member
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http://www.nbcnews.com/business/mcdonalds-finance-guide-insulting-low-wage-workers-6C10653604


I would love to know who has insurance in the country that is only 20 a month?

Is this insulting or just another way the corporations showing that they have no idea how the average American lives?
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  • soldier4242
    soldier4242 Posts: 1,368 Member
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    I understand that it is fashionable to hate McDonald's because they are a corporation and on this site even more so because they sell food products which are not conducive with our diets.

    That doesn't mean that every single thing they do is negative. It sounds to me like McDonald's actually did try to do something good here and whomever they put in charge of the project just messed up. The fact that the mistake wasn't caught could just speak the fact that it is a big company and not every project is looked after with the appropriate amount of care. At worst I think this tells us that there is a disconnect between the people who worked on this project and the life a minimum wage worker.

    I do not think this was intended to be an insult to anyone I think it was just a mistake and I am sure that if the backlash is bad enough to impact their profits they will go out of their way to get it fixed. Some people might lose their jobs over this and others might be able to get those jobs because of it.

    I think it is commendable that McDonald's would even care to take on a project of this nature and I hope they do a better job in the future.
  • akaMrsmojo
    akaMrsmojo Posts: 762 Member
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    I do not hate McDonald's, never have. For me it is symptom of a greater issue in this country, the complete disconnect from the reality of the cost of living between workers and executive management who make decisions on pay.

    I am sure their intentions were honorable, but completely out of touch. I can only wish I could pay 20 a month for insurance. I cannot even afford my company's/

    It is also a symptom of a greater cultural issue in this country and attitudes towards to working poor.

    I like McDonalds. I eat their once a month because we have a discount thingy through our bank. I love their fries.
  • soldier4242
    soldier4242 Posts: 1,368 Member
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    Well the majority of my response was referring to the author of the article and not you specifically but I did not ever say that so your response makes perfect sense.

    The reason there is a minimum wage it because if they could get away with it they would pay there workers less. They want to pay minimum wages and they want to have as few workers as possible to get the job done but not so few that the restaurant shuts down the first time flu season hits. There is a Goldilocks zone and they always want to be right in the middle of it. This model makes them a lot of money but yes it does disconnect them from the rest of us.

    Their fries are amazing.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
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    I pay $20 a month for health insurance... Hell, I think it's even less than that ($10.16 to be exact).. Though It's going up... again.... next year and it's a high deductible plan... but I am generally healthy and only need the preventative care at the moment.

    But then I also don't work for minimum wage (and my employer pays for a big chunk too)... been there done that and would really prefer to not ever do it again.
  • akaMrsmojo
    akaMrsmojo Posts: 762 Member
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    Their fries are part of the reason I am on myfitnesspal.

    I agree with the minimum wage portion of you statement, but the sad fact is no one can really live on minimum wage when they have a dependent and many times their workers qualify for food stamps, much like Walmart. Then the burden becomes the country's and the taxpayers who make higher wages. I cannot blame the workers, they need to feed their families.

    They should have had an actual worker sit down and help make the budget.
  • akaMrsmojo
    akaMrsmojo Posts: 762 Member
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    I pay $20 a month for health insurance... Hell, I think it's even less than that ($10.16 to be exact).. Though It's going up... again.... next year and it's a high deductible plan... but I am generally healthy and only need the preventative care at the moment.

    But then I also don't work for minimum wage (and my employer pays for a big chunk too)... been there done that and would really prefer to not ever do it again.

    For my company, it is 300 a person a month. With 4 people in my home, that is impossible. My employer pays half. But the only way I could afford it, is if I lived in a box on the street.
  • Gilbrod
    Gilbrod Posts: 1,216 Member
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    Just read the article. I think it's commendable that they're attemtping to do something. I'll see the positive side of things and say that it will give kids who live with their parents, an idea of what the real world will look like. Also, for someone who never ever has even thought about a budget. You'd be amazed how many adults never even thought of the concept, I work in finance. So to try to educate some people, worthy. Now to give em a budget that exceeds their pay, different story.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
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    Their fries are part of the reason I am on myfitnesspal.

    I agree with the minimum wage portion of you statement, but the sad fact is no one can really live on minimum wage when they have a dependent and many times their workers qualify for food stamps, much like Walmart. Then the burden becomes the country's and the taxpayers who make higher wages. I cannot blame the workers, they need to feed their families.

    They should have had an actual worker sit down and help make the budget.

    But what wage is fair for a no skill job? You don't even really have to know English to work at McDonald's... at least that's true at the ones here.... Even skilled labor often makes just a few dollars over minimum wage. I know many jobs in my company that start at around $11 an hour for full time skilled labor jobs. And the minimum wage is what $7.25 an hour? Their isn't that much discrepency in the wage... were the discrepency comes in is the amount of hours.

    And I do think the burden is on the workers... get a skill, a trade, an associates degree or equivelant certificate... Mike Rowe was just on Bill Maher last week and he was describing this dealership in Peoria that have 26 positions open for heavy equipment positions... they start out at $40-50k and move on up to over $100k with time and experience... and there are MANY other skill based jobs such as these across the country just begging to be had (according to what was said on the show)... What's the deal? Then I see blogs and news stories of people moaning and whining because they had a job in their degree field, then decided to up and move to be closer to family, but are now relegated to working fast food because there aren't jobs in that area for their previous work experience (I know of two such stories that were semi national). Then on the flip side of this, I see blogs from families of 4 or 6, living on $14,000 a year.

    This isn't at all to say, that people don't deserve to live comfortably... or that they don't deserve a decent wage... but at what point are individuals going to decide to try and do better for themselves rather than relegate themselves to working jobs that are better suited for high school and college students?
  • akaMrsmojo
    akaMrsmojo Posts: 762 Member
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    I saw that Bill Mahr interview. It blew my mind. I have a masters degree and I barely make above minimum wage because companies have an attitude that you are lucky to have a job. I have been with the same company for 5 years and only one raise. It is insulting and it makes me wonder why I bothered to get an education.

    This story just makes me really aware that company executives have no clue what it takes to live in this country.
  • soldier4242
    soldier4242 Posts: 1,368 Member
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    What is your masters degree in?
  • akaMrsmojo
    akaMrsmojo Posts: 762 Member
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    Public Policy. I got a 4.0 in my program.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
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    I saw that Bill Mahr interview. It blew my mind. I have a masters degree and I barely make above minimum wage because companies have an attitude that you are lucky to have a job. I have been with the same company for 5 years and only one raise. It is insulting and it makes me wonder why I bothered to get an education.

    This story just makes me really aware that company executives have no clue what it takes to live in this country.

    I feel ya... Only I only have my bachelors... and I work in the public sector... which makes it worse.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
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    Oh and I don't think it's so much as they clueless... I just don't think they care. Because on one side you have the Walton's and then on the other you have the CEO of Costco... both trying to do the same thing, but the latter actually paying their employees better and taking a hit to their bottom line, but retaining better employees and for longer.
  • akaMrsmojo
    akaMrsmojo Posts: 762 Member
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    Oh and I don't think it's so much as they clueless... I just don't think they care. Because on one side you have the Walton's and then on the other you have the CEO of Costco... both trying to do the same thing, but the latter actually paying their employees better and taking a hit to their bottom line, but retaining better employees and for longer.

    Brilliant point, that is why I shop at Costco when I can. I think you are right, they just don't care and that is a major cultural issue. People are blamed for being poor, when our educational system is declining and people do not have the same access to the resources as the super right. The middle class is in the corner, just working.
  • tigerblood78
    tigerblood78 Posts: 417 Member
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    So I'm assuming everyone who thinks McD's is paying their employees enough also have no problem with paying for all the gov't benefits those employees get because of their "fair wage"?
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
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    So I'm assuming everyone who thinks McD's is paying their employees enough also have no problem with paying for all the gov't benefits those employees get because of their "fair wage"?

    But what is a fair wage for a no skill job like McDonald's? $11? $15? $25?
  • lour441
    lour441 Posts: 543 Member
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    So I'm assuming everyone who thinks McD's is paying their employees enough also have no problem with paying for all the gov't benefits those employees get because of their "fair wage"?

    If a person qualifies for government assistance then I have no problem paying for it.

    If you think an employer doesn't pay a fair wage then don't work for them. I assure you an employer that cannot hire people due to the wage being too low will raise the wage incrementally until they are able to fill the position.
  • akaMrsmojo
    akaMrsmojo Posts: 762 Member
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    No, I do not think that McDonalds is paying them enough because the country is supplementing their incomes with food stamps. I like Costco's model.
  • lour441
    lour441 Posts: 543 Member
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    So I'm assuming everyone who thinks McD's is paying their employees enough also have no problem with paying for all the gov't benefits those employees get because of their "fair wage"?

    But what is a fair wage for a no skill job like McDonald's? $11? $15? $25?

    I think a fair wage is what an employer and an employee agree upon.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
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    No, I do not think that McDonalds is paying them enough because the country is supplementing their incomes with food stamps. I like Costco's model.

    While I do have respect for the CEO and Costco... and will shop there over sam's club (even though we are getting a brand new sam's club seriously 2 minutes away from where I live).... McDonald's and Costco can't really be compared all that much as Costco isn't a franchise with many individual owners. It's a totally different corporation model. And I agree with lour, if you don't like the wage then don't work for them... like I said there are plenty of other jobs out there that will pay a helluva lot more with just a high school diploma for an educational background. Problem is, no one wants to get dirty.

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