US fast-food workers staging nationwide strike

[Mickey_Finn]

The one question I would ask is whether a tuition waiver came with the job. If it did the effective wage rate is higher. In the late 80s I worked at a teaching assistant for a little over $8 an hour, but the real benefit was that I did not have to pay tuition.

It’s amazing to me how some of these people who are some type of career path whine so.

 

[TheWarriorMonk]

Then His situation is not relevant to this discussion.

Issue already addressed. I worked for years in fast food in college. People over the age of 18 can go into management if they want to make a career out of it. There was always a shortage of and demand for assistant managers and managers in every single fast food place I ever worked. It borders on ridiculous discussing fast food and “living wages,” because the living wages are available to those wishing to make a career of of fast food. That’s something that, of course, is conveniently avoided by those here and in the media that continue to bring this subject up.

Again this is irrelevant.

It’s irrelevant because the issue appears not to be working one’s way up in career and society, but demanding and receiving something from others whether they deserve it or not. When wages paid are higher than the market will bear, the wages aren’t paid…the business is reorganized to remain profitable, with those on the lowest rung are the ones that end up suffering.

Talk show rhetoric. The working are in fact earning their wages. If you compare their earnings to the profits of some of these corporations. It’s plain to see that they are under compensated. If these corporations were worthwhile contributors to our economy, instead of simply takers. They would not have employees who require public assistance.

I’m not sure how firsthand experience from a repeat employee of the year and someone with fast food management is talk-show rhetoric. Firsthand experience trumps regurgitation of someone’s opinion of thirdhand experience any day of the week.

You clearly don’t understand the way fast food restaurants operate. The headquarters is not running your local fast food restaurant, nor paying its employees. You can’t just require the local restaurant to double the labor costs without a significant price increase or without simply shutting the business down when it becomes unprofitable.

Trust me on this one…if you local fast food restaurant could raise prices, they would. They could take a cut of the increase as profit and pay the rest to employees. However, we deal in reality, and market will only allow so much of an increase without economic consequences, notable by eliminating the least skilled. .

 

[Norm640]

Actually, the real issue is the concept of the minimum wage in the first place. Whatever it becomes, or is, or will be, it locks people in that work, and a lot of people out of that work. As Thomas Sowell has demonstrated, the minimum wage is the worst thing to ever happen to black people, because, as he experienced, just getting a job for a poor black guy is hard enough. If you can’t read or have no other skills, you won’t even get a minimum wage job. Which is why drug dealing, use, and the welfare state, grows.

A minimum wage forces employers to put artificial limits on how their company can grow, and how they have to compensate not only low-skilled, but high skilled. And as a result, the trickle-down- yes, I said trickle-down- effect is achieved. For good and bad.

I lost my job last week. And I won’t be able to find a job for a very long time. Why? Because we live in a credentialed society. I am not a low-skilled worker, so fast food places rejecte me, and I don’t have the right degree, gender, or age, so I can’t get the lucrative jobs. It will probably take me 6 months to a year now to find another job. All because of artificial restrictions placed on the economy.

So strike all you want. What will happen when you get your new wage? You’ll want a higher wage. Because corporations will shift costs and prices- because they have to, not because they are rich fat cats, according to some. That is, if you still have a job.

Be a good Christian, work hard, but in this day and age we need less, not more government. The minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage. Why? Because we all have different ideas of what it takes to live. The wage you get when you enter the workforce should not be a pension- something to live off of modestly. It should be an inducement to work harder and make more money. That is what the country- and evil capitalism, which has done more to eliminate poverty than any government program- is all about.

I was reading some economic stats the other day, and our idea of who gets paid what is crazy. Everyone equates Wal-Mart with low wages, but, having worked there, I can tell you that is not the case. WM is one of the higher-paid retail stores, while Kroger’s, a major chain, pays its workers far less. Why? It is unionized. And hipster Trader Joe’s pays its employees about 20% less than market average. Really.

Come on, people…government only makes things worse.

 

[Crossbones]

I’ll add my two cents then I guess to maybe reorient the discussion.

So, I’m a PhD student who works an average of maybe 50-55 hrs a week (work meaning lab research in a molecular biology lab; note I am excluding class hours, which are about 8-10 hrs per week), and this is only my first year; after the first year doctoral students in my program begin to significantly increase their workload (which is necessary if there’s any hope of completing one’s dissertation research and getting enough publications to pad one’s resume). Many end up working as much as 70 hrs a week. Now, I make 26k per year; doing the math, making some allowances for holiday, my hourly wage will end up being around $9 per hour, for doing biomedical research.

Considering this, I find it difficult to accept the notion that a fast food workers ‘deserve’ more than the $9-10 they are making. The risk of injury or death on the job is not especially high for them, especially compared to garbage workers or industrial workers, and they are unskilled and easily replaceable. And the service they provide is hardly a necessity (arguably most of their customers would be better of in terms of health if they didn’t provide said service).

Secondly. there is much talk on here about a ‘living wage,’ and I’m curious to see someone actually define that term. I make 26k a year. Is this considered less than a living wage? Now of course, if offered more, I would definitely take it, but the fact is, I have no trouble living on 26k a year. I live in a city, do not own a car, and make enough money to get by and save several hundred dollars a month. I’m wholly convinced I could live on 20k a year, or less, so I see no reason to believe a priori that that is less than a living wage.

Well, in fairness, you are just getting $9/hr for doing research. You are also working towards an advanced degree that will presumably result in your ability to gather higher wages. Furthermore, you probably aren’t paying tuition as that is covered by the same research grant is paying you.

So, you are not just working for $9/hr. You are educating yourself and you are getting free tuition.

The fast food worker are working for $9/hr and that’s it.

 

[Farsight001]

Well, in fairness, you are just getting $9/hr for doing research. You are also working towards an advanced degree that will presumably result in your ability to gather higher wages. Furthermore, you probably aren’t paying tuition as that is covered by the same research grant is paying you.

So, you are not just working for $9/hr. You are educating yourself and you are getting free tuition.

The fast food worker are working for $9/hr and that’s it.

That was kind of his point - he is working his butt off for a good education so he can get good pay. The fast food worker is not working their butt of, not getting a good education, so why should they get good pay? Work hard, get well paid. . don’t work hard, don’t get well paid. Not a hard concept.

 

[stinkcat_14]

The fast food worker is not working their butt of, not getting a good education, so why should they get good pay? Work hard, get well paid. . don’t work hard, don’t get well paid. Not a hard concept.

Actually, this is about as false as you can get. I get paid a lot more than a fast food worker, at a job which is much easier with better benefits and a nicer working condition.

 

[Farsight001]

Actually, this is about as false as you can get. I get paid a lot more than a fast food worker, at a job which is much easier with better benefits and a nicer working condition.

It was an oversimplification. Ease of workload, ease of thinking, level of demand for the position, amount of available workers, etc, etc, etc. all impact pay. You missed the point.

 

[Crossbones]

That was kind of his point - he is working his butt off for a good education so he can get good pay. The fast food worker is not working their butt of, not getting a good education, so why should they get good pay? Work hard, get well paid. . don’t work hard, don’t get well paid. Not a hard concept.

No, his point was he makes $9/hr, so why should a fast food worker make more? My point is that $9/hr was the not the full extent of his compensation, so it isn’t an apples to apples comparison.

 

[SuperLuigi]

good thing the ceo’s at Mcdonalds taught you how to read and basic arithmatic…no what that was the tax payers through public schools, who are also paying for social security benifits to numerous fast food employees.

I’d love for companies to teach their employees under apprenticeships and the like.

 

[estesbob]

Well, in fairness, you are just getting $9/hr for doing research. You are also working towards an advanced degree that will presumably result in your ability to gather higher wages. Furthermore, you probably aren’t paying tuition as that is covered by the same research grant is paying you.

So, you are not just working for $9/hr. You are educating yourself and you are getting free tuition.

The fast food worker are working for $9/hr and that’s it.

Why is"that it"?

 

[Crossbones]

Why is"that it"?

No additional benefits like free tuition or an advanced degree.

 

[estesbob]

Actually, this is about as false as you can get. I get paid a lot more than a fast food worker, at a job which is much easier with better benefits and a nicer working condition.

Could a great food worker do your job?

 

[stinkcat_14]

It was an oversimplification. Ease of workload, ease of thinking, level of demand for the position, amount of available workers, etc, etc, etc. all impact pay. You missed the point.

No, you did not say any of those things. Your statement was just plain wrong.

 

[estesbob]

No additional benefits like free tuition or an advanced degree.

Ok.

 

[SuperLuigi]

Well, in fairness, you are just getting $9/hr for doing research. You are also working towards an advanced degree that will presumably result in your ability to gather higher wages. Furthermore, you probably aren’t paying tuition as that is covered by the same research grant is paying you.

So, you are not just working for $9/hr. You are educating yourself and you are getting free tuition.

The fast food worker are working for $9/hr and that’s it.

But who is making them work at those jobs?

To paraphrase Sean Hannity: “If you’re 25 or older, are making minimum wage and don’t have a degree, you really need to start thinking about something else if you want to move up the ladder.”

Also, if people really have a problem with how much an institution pays, they can choose to eat somewhere else.

Let the market decide.

But I doubt that people really care enough to do that.

 

[SuperLuigi]

My friend.

If you have the intellect to earn such a lofty degree, and you’re working for $9.00/hr. Either you’ve made a poor choice. Or you are allowing them to use you believing it will be worth it in the end.

While the first option may coincide with some lower wage earners. The latter has very little to do with them. Unless they are living at home, and going to school.

Either way, you’ve willingly put your self in this situation and are now saying that others have no right to anything better.

ATB

:clapping:

 

[Crossbones]

But who is making them work at those jobs?

To paraphrase Sean Hannity: “If you’re 25 or older, are making minimum wage and don’t have a degree, you really need to start thinking about something else if you want to move up the ladder.”

Also, if people really have a problem with how much an institution pays, they can choose to eat somewhere else.

Let the market decide.

But I doubt that people really care enough to do that.

In general, I don’t disagree with you. The community college where I live offer some excellent programs to train people in technical skills and a part time certification program in welding can reap significant financial benefits.

Of course, these programs are supported by the taxpayers through state funds and local property taxes. I think this is a good use of taxpayer support.

 

[stinkcat_14]

Could a great food worker do your job?

Certainly, my job requires a level of education that most fast food workers don’t have, but the poster was claiming that people in low wage jobs don’t work hard.

 

[Farsight001]

No, you did not say any of those things. Your statement was just plain wrong.

Of course I didn’t say any of those things. I was, as I just clarified, simplifying things. Did you even read my posts?

 

[Farsight001]

Certainly, my job requires a level of education that most fast food workers don’t have, but the poster was claiming that people in low wage jobs don’t work hard.

I didn’t say they didn’t work hard. I said the job wasn’t hard. Preparing fast food is about as simple non-volunteer work there is.