What about fast food workers wanting $15/hr?

Did anyone see this in the news?

 

Good for them. So what.

 

If I worked in fast food, I would want $1000 an hour. Of course, hamburgers would cost... oh let's see... somewhere around $650 apiece. But, hey, I'd be making $1000 an hour!!!

Wow. Think about that for just a minute. I would be making $8000 a day. I'd be making $2 MILLION a year!!! I'd be rich, wouldn't I? Maybe I could fly to St. Tropez or buy that Ferrari I always wanted. But wait, if I'm making $8000 a day, the price of everything else will subsequently skyrocket. That Ferrari I wanted now costs $60 MILLION. A soft drink will cost $200. Uh-oh, I see where this is going. But, I have a solution: I need a raise!!

 

People are beginning to feel the effects of BO's "new normal"....reduced hours, underemployment, etc.
The jobs aren't there anymore so they have to demand increased pay for the positions they can get.

 

But now it's Obama's fault because all hatred must be focused on Obama like a laser by the Right-wing kooks.

Table 1. – Job Losses in Manufacturing by Industry, 1978-2007
Computers/ Primary Trans. Paper/ Fabricated
Year All Electronics Garments Textiles Metals Equip. Printing Metals
% Chge. -29% -35% -78% -67% -59% -26% -30% -21%
Abs. Chge. -5,657 -947 -797 -695 -648 -596 -479 -406
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

Nothing wrong with them asking for it, now it is up to the employers as to weather or not they agree to it.

 

We're already seeing the toll Obamacare & BO's economy have had on employment and wages in this country....if the demands to double the hourly pay rate come to fruition there's no telling what the fallout could be.

 

Absolutely! With this country moving at breakneck speed away from a manufacturing economy and towards a service sector economy, we need to consider the welfare of our workers not just the bottom line of corporate America. Nobody could live on the wages they pay and that average age of a service sector employee is now 35 years of age. Corporate profits have skyrocketed but wages have fallen. If people do not stand up and demand higher wages, they do not deserve them. However, if they stand together and speak with one voice, corporate America and the rest of us should listen. A strong middle class is the only defense against the corporate state and as we all know, the corporate state is really just Fascism.

 

Isn't that what happened to the auto industries? I seem to remember their having problems after teh unions got what they wanted.

 

Believe it or not, I'm actually FOR raising the minimum wage. In fact, double it. No, triple it. Strike that.. quadruple it! It doesn't matter what the minimum wage is. Markets will adjust accordingly and prices will rise on all goods. It doesn't matter if the minimum wage is $1 or $100 an hour. The more employers have to pay the employees, prices on everything will rise accordingly. So, let me say it again and feel free to quote me on this:

RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE!

 

The exact same argument that the Right has made for decades and it has never proven even once to actually happen. But I'm sure this time it actually will happen.

 

RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE!

 

Yeah we all know McDonald's is too poor to pay a bit more. It wouldn't raise the price of burgers any more than congress giving themselves raises have increased the efficiency and competence of government.

 

At least you're giving this thread the intelligent posts it deserves.

 

If the minimum wage is raised to $15 an hour and the price of a Big Mac doesn't go up, employees in the future will be able to buy 2 Big Macs for the price they pay for 1 Big Mac today. Think about it. McDonalds will be paying employees twice what they're paying now and also be cutting their profit on Big Macs in half. How does that not make perfect economic sense? (Please note the sarcasm).

 

I stopped buying fast food years ago...doesn't confront me.

Keep in mind...minimum wage jobs are "transitional" jobs...they're not intended to support a family. Anyone with one of these jobs for more than 2-3 years really needs to reevaluate their life choices.

 

Fast food restraunts make more than you think. I'm betting that $4 big Mac costs about $.30 to make. That's a lot f profit. I don't see them getting $15/hr anytime soon, but to expect competency for $7/hr is unrealistic.

 

In reality, McDonalds sells the franchises the ingredients for the Big Mac for something like $1.70 and profits about 33¢ or 19.85% (used for dividends, taxes, research, and growth). Meanwhile the franchises pay their employees, taxes, rent (or equivalent), electricity, real estate taxes, Obamacare, FICA, disability, etc. They probably manage to keep about 20¢ to 50¢ depending on the franchise.

BTW, McDonalds employees 440,000 full time employees. Assuming that they all make minimum, doubling that would cost them about $7,000,000,000. And that is just the wages not including FICA, Obamacare et al.

 

It's the local restaurant fanchisee's who will pay the price...they are the guys who actually pay the wages, the parent corporations do make tons of money but their's come in the form of franchise fees & by taking a pre-determined cut of the local store's profits.

 

You're living in the past Yaky. Since the service sector has become the only choice for millions of adults, these are no longer entry level jobs exclusively filled by high school kids. The average age of the service sector worker is 35. One third of them are over 40. I'm sure that they all love to move on to a better job. Do you happen to know where those jobs have gone. Try China, India, Mexico, or any other third world country where they can pay a dollar a day wages. I don't know where you think these people are supposed to go to find better jobs. What would they be transitioning to? Here is a clue, those better jobs no longer exist.