Fast Food Workers Strikes = Win for better health

To everyone saying that Minimum wage is not meant to be a Livable wage: That is absolutely its intent.

From the Fair Labor Standards act of 1938 (the thing that created minimum wage):

§ 202. Congressional finding and declaration of policy
(a) The Congress finds that the existence, in industries engaged in commerce or in
the production of goods for commerce, of labor conditions detrimental to the
maintenance of the minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency, and
general well-being of workers


(b) It is declared to be the policy of this chapter, through the exercise by Congress
of its power to regulate commerce among the several States and with foreign
nations, to correct and as rapidly as practicable to eliminate the conditions above
referred to in such industries without substantially curtailing employment or earning
power.

That pretty clearly states that minimum wage should be a livable wage.

read this a little more closely.

how exactly does it clearly state that a minimum wage should be livable?

A) talks about "labor conditions detrimental to the
maintenance of the minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency, and
general well-being of workers..." and ends mid sentance.

gives congress the right to ' to eliminate the conditions above
referred to in such industries without substantially curtailing employment or earning
power."

it seems to me that this is focused more on labor conditions. its not clear to me wether 'curtailing employment or earning power' is really directed at the worker or the employer.

I'm not saying your wrong but IMO you'd need a little more to 100% prove what your saying.

where did you get this from?

To everyone saying that Minimum wage is not meant to be a Livable wage: That is absolutely its intent.

From the Fair Labor Standards act of 1938 (the thing that created minimum wage):

§ 202. Congressional finding and declaration of policy
(a) The Congress finds that the existence, in industries engaged in commerce or in
the production of goods for commerce, of labor conditions detrimental to the
maintenance of the minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency, and
general well-being of workers


(b) It is declared to be the policy of this chapter, through the exercise by Congress
of its power to regulate commerce among the several States and with foreign
nations, to correct and as rapidly as practicable to eliminate the conditions above
referred to in such industries without substantially curtailing employment or earning
power.

That pretty clearly states that minimum wage should be a livable wage.

Well that pretty much says it. Lawyered.

But there in lies the question, what is needed for "minimum standard of living" Cell phones, cable, car, would not qualify, I would qualify it as adequate amount/qualify of food, shelter, and clothing, and minimum wage jobs would get you those 3 especially if you lived with a roommate and had no kids. I don't think it can or should support a family just an individual's basic needs.

And this is coming from someone that leans to the socialist side of the line, vs. the capitalist side

I agree with the last quoted post so much. I don't think minimum wage is meant to support families and/or pay for many of life's luxuries. Unfortunately many people think the latest iPhone is a necessity.

But I also hate this attitude of "minimum wage isn't meant to be enough for adults to survive on". I think that is a pretty disturbing thought to be honest, and I'm even more disturbed by that because I know of so many low wage entry-level jobs that I could see that attitude extending to in the future. Not everyone can be at the absolute top of their field. Not every person has the right psychological makeup for serving in the armed forces or the intellect required to become an attorney or surgeon.

I know I'll probably just sound like another bleeding heart if I continue discussing this topic.

BUT -- I want to add that in my opinion, things have really changed in the last 10-15 years when it comes to retail and food service, entry level jobs. I think at least SOME of the other posters here might not even realize how drastically things have changed. I'm in my thirties and when I was a college student in the late 90's and starting out in the early 2000s, it was EASY in my area to find a full-time retail job. You could walk into a drugstore and get a non managerial job with steady pay working 32-40+ hrs per week. So if you budgeted properly you could live off that (at least in my area). NOW...most retail stores, excluding the big box stores (and sometimes including the big box stores) have NO full-time employees except for management. A lot of this is to avoid providing staff with insurance and other benefits. But it means that for people with limited skills and education there is a huge gap there, and often they are unable to get a job working 40 hours per week.

Also...try asking 2-3 different fast food restaurants or retail stores if you can work part-time at each of them and coordinate schedules. They will most likely just laugh as they turn you down cold. I've held some part-time retail gigs over the years in addition to my full-time office jobs and believe me, they don't want to be flexible at most places - least of all when it comes to someone who is trying to support a family and pay their rent on retail wages. It's messed up.

I think $15/hr DOES sound insane for my area, where most college grads start out making $10/hr. Somewhere in the $8-10 range seems more acceptable to me for a new minimum wage. JMHO, obviously.

I am very much in favor of doubling the minimum wage.

We, as taxpayers, are subsidizing these corporations through corporate tax breaks, and governmental benefits provided for their workers, who are paid laughably low wages. I think that no business has a God-given right to exist in this country if it cannot meet a minimal standard of decent treatment of and pay for its employees. If you cannot pay your employees a decent wage, you do not have a valid business plan!!

Not everyone has the transportation to be able to travel to a better paying job, the confidence to try to achieve something better, or the family financial backup to take time away from paid work to be able to spend time training through school or whatever for a new career.

When people are at work, they are trading precious hours of their lives for money, and there should be a decent minimum wage, enough to allow people to afford housing and other basic needs, and a bit of cash to put away as well. Even though working at a fast food place may seem a "low-skill" job, those folks are on their feet constantly, hustling, putting up with often disrespectful customers, and I think they deserve monetary recognition for that.

I have 11 years of post-high-school education and training, and am lucky enough to have a well-paid, very interesting career. It bothers me that there are so many folks out there who have the unlucky combination of poorly-paid and stressful/dull work. At least we can legislate some relief for them as far as pay goes.

Good points. I always wonder why people who rant against a minimum wage increase don't seem to care when under-performing CEOs get big salary increases and bonuses. All those things add to the cost of a product or service one buys. However, giving low-wage workers a little more money also helps to stimulate the economy, because such workers spend most of their money on the consumable goods that drive Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Not to mention, higher wages help reduce government assistance payouts, and that's good for all taxpayers.

It seems reasonable, but doesn't higher wages equate to a higher cost of doing business, and therefore an eventual increase in the prices of the products and services being offered to offset these higher costs? So effectively your spending power hasn't increased at all. Also to those that have not received an increase in pay, who also will have to pay more for these same products and services, isn't it in effect a pay cut?
Just a thought. I could be thinking this through all wrong.

The higher minimum wage goes up, the less value my own job holds. MY pay doesn't go up when minimum wage goes up.

It might if you're a union employee. A lot of union contracts specify salary levels as a multiple of minimum wage, so if minimum wage goes up so does their paycheck. Wonder why unions care about what the takehome pay for a burger flipper is? This is why.

Also, the reason most minimum wage jobs are part time now is to avoid providing mandatory benefits, such as health insurance. Unintended consequences are a beeotch.

The higher minimum wage goes up, the less value my own job holds. MY pay doesn't go up when minimum wage goes up.

It might if you're a union employee. A lot of union contracts specify salary levels as a multiple of minimum wage, so if minimum wage goes up so does their paycheck. Wonder why unions care about what the takehome pay for a burger flipper is? This is why.

So you're saying everyone should unionize just so their wages can go up with minimum wage?

And that's laughable to think that a union "cares" about what the take home pay is for minimum wage. They only "care" because it effects their pay. If they had a non union job they would feel the same way as everyone else. Why should their pay increase because the minimum does when mine doesn't?

geesh, why don't they just go get a better job?
oh wait...

I can't wait til minimum wage hits the $13-14 mark here in NC. I will surely quit my job working on medical equipment to go mindlessly flip burgers and deep fry taters! Look out unskilled laborers, us semi skilled folks will be taking your $15 hr in no time flat.


What do you want after that?

Enjoy having a job where you DON'T get to play on the internet at work and you spend your entire time doing manual labor in a hot, sweaty, grease pit. Because I'm sure that's SO much easier than your job now.

WIN

I can't wait til minimum wage hits the $13-14 mark here in NC. I will surely quit my job working on medical equipment to go mindlessly flip burgers and deep fry taters! Look out unskilled laborers, us semi skilled folks will be taking your $15 hr in no time flat.


What do you want after that?

Enjoy having a job where you DON'T get to play on the internet at work and you spend your entire time doing manual labor in a hot, sweaty, grease pit. Because I'm sure that's SO much easier than your job now.

Not to mention have to deal with rude customers who think you're so beneath them because you're a worthless turd making minimum wage...

Why there is stigma to those making minimum wage? Beats the hell out of me.