Fast food workers on strike.

In CA here fast food workers are striking demanding 15 dollars an hours minimum. Saying that minimum wage is not a living wage.

What are your thoughts?

http://news.yahoo.com/fast-food-strikes-return-amid-push-wage-hikes-114457533--finance.html

I'll start with my thoughts.

I believe these are stepping stone jobs, just like when I worked fast food as a teenager. Young kids work there and learn about the real world and then move on to their careers. If you choose to work a minimum wage job your whole life why is it anyone elses fault that you are not making a killing?

Just another demand from those who demand any and all entitlements, or should I say Obammie Supporters.

I don't eat fast food but I can guarantee they will just pass the buck on to us just like I would be forced to do if I had to spend more.

I don't get how people can look at how much money a company brought in and determine that they can afford to do this or that when they have no idea the real cost of doing business.

There are similar protests going on around here.

If you want a job that pays $15 an hour, go out and find one. A low skill, entry level job such as fast food is not a $15 an hour job around here. Even in the trades, you will probably start around $10, and take a couple of years to move up to $15, and then only if you are a quick learner and a go getter. When I was making $15, I was in a van with a helper, and turning out 1 house underground rough in an 8 hour day, with almost no failed inspections or problems.

Like you said, it will either cripple the business, or cause general inflation if that type of job has to command that type of wage.

They probably don't realize that 15 will be the next 10. Your 800 a month rent will be 1100. gas will be 7 bucks a gallon and a cheesburger combo will be 12 bucks. All they will be doing is lowering the value of the dollar for those of us that have any saved will be worthless.

I'm conflicted. The industrial jobs that used to pay non skilled workers are gone, but the unskilled workers are still here. It seems that in and of itself is a greater issue.

I don't think any business should be forced to pay their employees more, but we do need to fix this by bringing back the jobs to the US, and not working with any country that doesn't use our same labor standards and practices.

Chris said:

They probably don't realize that 15 will be the next 10. Your 800 a month rent will be 1100. gas will be 7 bucks a gallon and a cheesburger combo will be 12 bucks. All they will be doing is lowering the value of the dollar for those of us that have any saved will be worthless.

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It looks like another form of redistribution to me.

Austin said:

I'm conflicted. The industrial jobs that used to pay non skilled workers are gone, but the unskilled workers are still here. It seems that in and of itself is a greater issue.

I don't think any business should be forced to pay their employees more, but we do need to fix this by bringing back the jobs to the US, and not working with any country that doesn't use our same labor standards and practices.

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I think the bolded part is the crux of the matter. And it isn't just a matter of a better education system, either. People have to WANT to learn new and advanced skills before you can have any chance of teaching them. Our culture needs to change a little bit to improve on that.

But in the end, there will always be unskilled, low wage jobs, and there will always be unskilled people doing those jobs making a low wage. The worker is there doing that job either because they don't have the ability or desire to get the skills necessary to move on to a better job, or they are doing that job as they are working to get the skills necessary for a better job. Forcing the employer to pay a higher wage is not going to change any of that.

Hmm..

I do think that $15 is too much for a starting job BUT some of the fast food places (like McDonalds) are no longer hiring people fresh out of school and are demanding prior job experience.

In places with a lot of job opportunities it doesn't make sense to raise minimum wage that high.

Where I live there are hardly any jobs and people can wait upwards of 2 years just trying to get a job. The crap workers often seem to keep their jobs while the good ones lose theirs.

But yeah, I agree that the cost will just be passed on to the consumers.

I sort of wish that they would have some sort of sanctions against companies that outsource and maybe have more incentives for companies that hire qualified American workers.

The outsourcing is hurting us quite a bit now.

phishfood said:

I think the bolded part is the crux of the matter. And it isn't just a matter of a better education system, either. People have to WANT to learn new and advanced skills before you can have any chance of teaching them. Our culture needs to change a little bit to improve on that.

But in the end, there will always be unskilled, low wage jobs, and there will always be unskilled people doing those jobs making a low wage. The worker is there doing that job either because they don't have the ability or desire to get the skills necessary to move on to a better job, or they are doing that job as they are working to get the skills necessary for a better job. Forcing the employer to pay a higher wage is not going to change any of that.

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Agreed. I think this can all be solved by my previous statement, limiting trade.

Austin said:

Agreed. I think this can all be solved by my previous statement, limiting trade.

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How will limiting trade with other economies improve the lives and working conditions of minimum wage employees here?

It would have to be that along with bringing manufacturing jobs back here.

phishfood said:

How will limiting trade with other economies improve the lives and working conditions of minimum wage employees here?

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If they can't manufacture in India,China, Pakistan,etc. they would be forced to bring the jobs back here.

Bringing back manufacturing is key to getting us on the right path, and getting the middle class back where it needs to be to support our economy.

I'd be happy if they would bring back more tech support jobs to the US. I went to high school with students from India and I had a few teachers from India so I usually understand the accent and seem to do better than some at understanding Indian tech support; however, the majority of the outsourced tech support I've dealt with have low English comprehension and/or can't grasp simple concepts.

When I had Hughesnet as an ISP, it took me over 2 hours to explain a simple concept to one of their tech support agents. To make a long story short, my internet was throttled so badly that I couldn't load a single webpage and I wanted them to remove the throttle. They wanted me to load the account webpage, login, and click a button to remove the throttle myself. They would not get it through their skulls that I couldn't load the damn webpage to click the thing myself. My new ISP has US tech support.

I agree that something needs to be done to encourage more production within the US. I do think China would probably give us crap about it because they already wanted to control the flow of certain metals that are almost exclusive to that region.

I think Tanzania has already banned the export of raw Tanzanite and that it all has to be cut in Tanzania by local crafters before export.

If the US did something similar maybe it would help. I'm sure people will cry about that.

As for the low skill/fast food jobs, I will say that I do know some people who have the skills and inclination to do other jobs but those jobs are not available. I have a friend who would gladly do construction work, but when he went to apply the employer pretty much told him they were only hiring minority workers.

I wish our government would do something more about unemployment other than throwing money at it but then turn around and try to micromanage what we eat (taxes on sugar, limiting sizes on drinks, pushing companies to have low fat/low sodium). I have a friend who gets WIC and they cover whole milk for her baby but only cover 2% milk for her 4-year-old. And that 2% stuff is unhealthy. They put more sugar in it to compensate for the lack of fat, and kids that age need the fat. It's idiotic.

Is anyone else here annoyed with the corn syrup in sodas and lack of grease made from animals for cooking fries? It tasted so much better the old way.

And WTF is with them trying to stop McDonalds from giving away toys with the Happy Meal?

It just seems they are mucking about in the wrong places and then not taking a stand where they should.

I'll climb off my soapbox now.

Ok, so I realize I haven't been a member on here for even 24hrs yet, but I'm a fairly opinionated person, and although I don't do it in such a way that causes conflict, I do make them known... so, here goes....

My 'simple' take on this sorta thing is similar to most... I find it ridiculous for these workers to be demanding this sort of pay considering there is no training required, or even educational requirements or maybe I should say 'standards' instead of requirements.... Perfect example, I spent some time working in a steel mill performing various job tasks (everything from pushing a broom to mechanical/electrical maintenance) in an insane environment (very dirty, and extreme temperatures ex. this summer we had a stretch of days around 90*f outside, our indoor temps averaged 172 throughout those days). I have worked my @$$ off throughout my life in order to succeed and give my family a good life... I'm also very experienced and qualified in the telecommunications field as well as being a certified paramedic for the last 10yrs... well, the mill I was working in is slated for complete closure in the early spring. I have been searching and searching for a good job for the last year. I finally got into a very reputable company (to say counting my blessings is the understatement of the century) where we produce polystyrene and expandable polystyrene in it's raw form (styrofoam and rigid packing material beads that are used at another plant to produce the final product). Even after all my experience, training and certifications, this job starts out around the $18/hr range. Now, that's nothing to shake a stick at considering the mean starting wages in my area... HOWEVER, if asked if I think the work I perform and the potential hazards I work with on a daily basis, is worth more than $3/hr more than someone flipping burgers, my answer in short would be HELL YES I do!

I see countryboy is going to be a good fit around these parts!

To quote Charlie Greer...

"Your pay raise will become effective when you do."

Raising the minimum wage without addressing the minimum work will solve nothing.

I do know that at the corporate level, McDonalds actually has some higher standards and they do expect their franchises to train employees. I've actually met some very good ones from there, but I've also met the ones that are just dumb as stumps (they usually don't even last long at McDonalds).

The standards at Sonic (in my area) are so low that I no longer go there because they mess up my order every single time I go there. I'm not even exaggerating there. Every single flippin' time there is something they do wrong. From putting rotten cherries in the shakes, to putting the wrong ingredients in the shakes (I ordered a chocolate shake and ended up with peanutbutter and strawberry in the bottom and almost no chocolate), and charging me extra for ingredients that are supposed to come with the order. The last time I went there they charged extra for the Oreo in an Oreo shake. They've also charged extra for chocolate and not even put it in. And they sometimes only give 3 or 4 pieces of chicken with the 5 piece chicken strips (after they charge for it). I didn't go there for several months bc of the screw-ups but last week my mother wanted Sonic and said "maybe they have better people now". Saw the receipt after I got home and realized "nope". They still messed it up. Sorry, venting.. But the stupidity just gets to me sometimes.

countryboy, I'm sorry to hear that you lost your old job but am glad you are getting a new one. My grandfather was a foreman in a factory that made propellers and when they developed jets and no longer needed the type of propeller the factory just laid everyone off with no pension, no benefits, nothing. He'd worked there for 20 years and they didn't even try to retrain the workers to work on other things.

I have a few friends who have lost their jobs due to downsizing and they are in an age range where it is very difficult for them to find new jobs.

It just pisses me off that the country seems to have become so obsessed with the almighty dollar and what they think will be quick money and they don't seem to think about the long run and how it hurts the economy (and eventually it will hurt their businesses). Quality and caring about the families that make up their workforce seem to have gone the way of the dodo in may places.

And some of the places that claim they produce things in the US are actually producing in places like Saipan (which has a large textile industry for such a small island) but get to claim its the US because its a commonwealth.

Its a shame that blue collar workers who do hard but skilled manual labor don't get paid as much as some executives who put in much less work (I know some of them do work very hard, but I still don't think the pay is proportionate). Our government is a supreme example of the imbalance-- just look at Congress.

I've heard that they are doing an experiment where some of them are choosing to see what it is like to live off of food stamps for a short time and my thought was "I hope the taxpayers aren't paying for their food stamps for this".

And really, as others have pointed out, if they raise minimum wage it won't make the people able to afford more stuff because it just means the prices will go up so its harder for everyone to afford.