Fast Food workers protest and demand more money.

[Nathon Detroit]

Today Fast Food workers all across America are protesting demanding to be paid more.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-04-09-39-16

This is a battle they will not win. After all..... even if they win.... they will lose.

It's fairly simple..... if we force private companies to pay a wage that is above what the market demands, companies will be forced to employ less people and fire folks that might normally be needed and employed.

And even worse.... If the minimum wage is inflated, companies will raise prices to accommodate the new wage thereby raising the cost of living and making the new wage less valuable.

It's self defeating to fight against the free market.

 

[elohiym]

I agree with your points.

Should those jobs only be held by those who can tolerate the standard of living the income provides?
That seems like an answer.

When I worked in fast food I was also working two other jobs.
Even in the 80s it seemed a paltry wage.

 

[john w]

I hope they fail, as I dig "cheap" french fries.

 

[tetelestai]

Today Fast Food workers all across America are protesting demanding to be paid more.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-04-09-39-16

This is a battle they will not win. After all..... even if they win.... they will lose.

It's fairly simple..... if we force private companies to pay a wage that is above what the market demands, companies will be forced to employ less people and fire folks that might normally be needed and employed.

And even worse.... If the minimum wage is inflated, companies will raise prices to accommodate the new wage thereby raising the cost of living and making the new wage less valuable.

It's self defeating to fight against the free market.

Over 60% of minimum wage earners are teenagers, or college students.

These kids come from families that have an average income of over $65,000.00

IOW, if you're over 25 years old, and you are making minimum wage at a fast food restaurant, then you made some bad choices in life.

 

[resurrected]

burger flipping's a great entry level job for unskilled inexperienced kids


they should pay to get the experience

 

[JPPT1974]

Really they do need to be paid. As always thought that fast food jobs are low paying. But it is on the other hand, good for HS kids to get a place of the workplace feel.

 

[PureX]

Anyone who gives a full measure of their day (8 hours or more) in exchange for wages should be able to live on those wages. They should be able to afford a reasonable place to live, reasonable means of transportation and communication, food, clothes, and basic health care.

 

[This Charming Manc]

Yes because the only component of the prices is wages?

The cost of burgers and other fast food come from

• food stuffs
• rent
• taxes
• wages
• marketing
• other business overheads
• profits and shareholders dividend

So you argument that there is direct correlation between wages and prices is false?

A 5% rise in wages will lead to less than a 1% rise in burgers in most cases.

The key argument here is who reaps the reward the investor or the worker?

I think in a fair world that is mixed and balanced, with both worker and investor reaping rewards.

Today Fast Food workers all across America are protesting demanding to be paid more.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-04-09-39-16

This is a battle they will not win. After all..... even if they win.... they will lose.

It's fairly simple..... if we force private companies to pay a wage that is above what the market demands, companies will be forced to employ less people and fire folks that might normally be needed and employed.

And even worse.... If the minimum wage is inflated, companies will raise prices to accommodate the new wage thereby raising the cost of living and making the new wage less valuable.

It's self defeating to fight against the free market.

 

[Letsargue]

Today Fast Food workers all across America are protesting demanding to be paid more.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-04-09-39-16

This is a battle they will not win. After all..... even if they win.... they will lose.

It's fairly simple..... if we force private companies to pay a wage that is above what the market demands, companies will be forced to employ less people and fire folks that might normally be needed and employed.

And even worse.... If the minimum wage is inflated, companies will raise prices to accommodate the new wage thereby raising the cost of living and making the new wage less valuable.

It's self defeating to fight against the free market.

Any one ought to Know that it's only to farther destroy the Country, That's ALL!!

Paul, David -- 090414

 

[Granite]

Over 60% of minimum wage earners are teenagers, or college students.

These kids come from families that have an average income of over $65,000.00

IOW, if you're over 25 years old, and you are making minimum wage at a fast food restaurant, then you made some bad choices in life.

Nice victim blaming. Why's the prevailing attitude in this country always seems to be "if you're poor, it's your fault"?

I'm not sold necessarily on hiking minimum wage but if one thing's very clear, it's that business will usually never treat its employees fairly if it doesn't have to.

 

[Granite]

Here's some fresh stats if anyone here is into that kind of thing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/10/upshot/minimum-wage.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=1

Highlights:

"Minimum-wage workers are older than they used to be. Their average age is 35, and 88 percent are at least 20 years old. Half are older than 30, and about a third are at least 40."

Another interesting tidbit:

"One in eight lives in a high-income household. About 12 percent of those who would gain from an increase to $10.10 live in households with incomes above $100,000. This group highlights the fact that the minimum wage is not nearly as well targeted toward poverty reduction as the earned-income tax credit, a wage subsidy whose receipt, unlike the minimum wage, is predicated on family income."

Let's file this in the Yeah, That's Totally Happening column:

"They’re in every state, but are overrepresented in the South. Because most of the states that have raised their minimums above the federal level are outside the South, a national increase would have more bite there."

 

[resurrected]

Anyone who gives a full measure of their day (8 hours or more) in exchange for wages should be able to live on those wages. They should be able to afford a reasonable place to live

three bedroom apartments can be found in most cities at an affordable price

get two roommates and you've just cut that $900/month to $300/month

reasonable means of transportation

super cheap:

and communication

free:

food

cheap:

clothes

cheap:

basic health care.

free!

Spoiler

 

[john w]

Over 60% of minimum wage earners are teenagers, or college students.

These kids come from families that have an average income of over $65,000.00

IOW, if you're over 25 years old, and you are making minimum wage at a fast food restaurant, then you made some bad choices in life.

You'd know that, since you work at "White Castle?"

 

[resurrected]

Nice victim blaming. Why's the prevailing attitude in this country always seems to be "if you're poor, it's your fault"?

and it's corollary "if you're stupid, it's your fault"

thanks for serving as poster child :thumb:

 

[aikido7]

Today Fast Food workers all across America are protesting demanding to be paid more.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-04-09-39-16

This is a battle they will not win. After all..... even if they win.... they will lose.

It's fairly simple..... if we force private companies to pay a wage that is above what the market demands, companies will be forced to employ less people and fire folks that might normally be needed and employed.

And even worse.... If the minimum wage is inflated, companies will raise prices to accommodate the new wage thereby raising the cost of living and making the new wage less valuable.

It's self defeating to fight against the free market.

I thought the available data on raising the wage for the working poor had ill effects on the corporations who hire them.

Most economists, as I remember, agree.

Here is a link to some studies on this:

http://www.raisetheminimumwage.com/pages/job-loss

Beware, though. The "facts" in this link might be false since the question is heavily partisan these days!

 

[aikido7]

three bedroom apartments can be found in most cities at an affordable price

get two roommates and you've just cut that $900/month to $300/month....

Good point!

...even though words like "reasonable" and "affordable" are big enough to drive a VW hippie van through. There are some inexpensive places to rent in this area (Shelton, WA) that I could certainly afford. And they seem a pretty good deal as described in the classified ads. I think, though, even a good deal on rent might have to be supplemented with food banks or food cards.

 

[rexlunae]

It's fairly simple..... if we force private companies to pay a wage that is above what the market demands, companies will be forced to employ less people and fire folks that might normally be needed and employed.

There's a problem with that logic. It assumes a state of the market in contradiction to what we actually see. Companies that pay minimum wage have usually already minimized their labor costs as much as they can. This is why, when you go to McDonalds, the person handling your payment is taking another order at the same time. And it's why they've invested heavily in automation. They don't hire a single worker that isn't needed, so there isn't a lot more that they can cut from their workforce without closing stores...which has an obvious downside for the business.

And even worse.... If the minimum wage is inflated, companies will raise prices to accommodate the new wage thereby raising the cost of living and making the new wage less valuable.

Do the math on that. It doesn't really add up. That would be a problem, if the only people served by minimum wage employees are other minimum wage employees. But of course, many of the people who eat fast food make a lot more than that, and the rich shop at Walmart too. So the increased cost is borne across the whole of the economy, or at least the people who frequent the places that pay minimum, but it benefits that smallish percent who don't make much money.

And since the profit margins of these companies are generally pretty high anyway, it is likely that the price will be driven more by the demand curve, of which employee wages is not a variable, than by the total cost of the production of the goods.

 

[tetelestai]

"Minimum-wage workers are older than they used to be.

Only because Senior Citizens are now working at McDonald's and other fast food restaurants because they are living older and retiring earlier.

Their average age is 35

Which is why you should go by the median age, and not the average age.

For example, if four 16 year olds and one 87 year old work at McDonald's, the average age would be 30 years old, whereas the median age would be 16 years old.

 

[Granite]

Only because Senior Citizens are now working at McDonald's and other fast food restaurants because they are living older and retiring earlier.

You consider working a crappy job in your eighties to be "retirement"?

 

[tetelestai]

A 5% rise in wages will lead to less than a 1% rise in burgers in most cases.

Having the government determine wages is a really BAD idea.

Amtrak is owned and operated by the government. The employees are paid a really good wage. A hamburger on an Amtrak train cost $16.00. However, Amtrak managed to lose $833 million dollars last year.

So, McDonald's can sell hamburgers for $1.00 and make money, while the government sells hamburgers for $16.00 dollars and somehow finds a way to lose $833 million in doing so.