Fast-food worker strike about to go global

Having read the article, the following can be stated:

If I was to own one of the fast food franchises there that are being walked out on, it could be argued in court, that the employees who did walk out, in short abandoned their job. And then I would have their final pay check there waiting in three days time, and hire another crew to take their place, leaving them without a job, or an income.

If the country was doing well, and the economy was going good, sure, I could see about raising the rate of pay, but this is not the case and ultimately, this is a case of cutting the nose off to spite the face. The harsh reality is that jobs like that, have a lot of applicants, even more so then normal, one job, 10 to 15 applicants, pretty much means that it is the employers market for hiring, picking and choosing employees at the rate of pay that they decide.

originally posted by: SpaDe_
a reply to: LDragonFire

I didn't realize that every business owner/ CEO made multi millions of dollars! My god what am I doing here on ATS when I didn't realize that somewhere I have millions of dollars laying around since I am the CEO of my company!

If your a business owner I don't support you not paying a livable wage. The rich keep getting richer!!!

If your a business owner and your employees draw government assistance you should be taxed accordingly!!!

originally posted by: sdcigarpig
Having read the article, the following can be stated:

If I was to own one of the fast food franchises there that are being walked out on, it could be argued in court, that the employees who did walk out, in short abandoned their job. And then I would have their final pay check there waiting in three days time, and hire another crew to take their place, leaving them without a job, or an income.

If the country was doing well, and the economy was going good, sure, I could see about raising the rate of pay, but this is not the case and ultimately, this is a case of cutting the nose off to spite the face. The harsh reality is that jobs like that, have a lot of applicants, even more so then normal, one job, 10 to 15 applicants, pretty much means that it is the employers market for hiring, picking and choosing employees at the rate of pay that they decide.

When the economy is doing bad is the time that it's most important to pay a proper wage. It lowers welfare expenses, it decreases taxes, and that money gets spent throughout the economy.

originally posted by: KawRider9
a reply to: Aazadan

I think we know the same guy. Engineer with six degrees..... Dumber than a box of rocks. Supprised he doesn't wear shoes shoes with velcro straps, you know, because knots are confusing.

Dumb SOB can't figure out an automatic car wash. But hey, he's got six degrees and is not afraid to tell ya about it! Pay the man!

This guy isn't dumb, the jobs for him simply aren't there. He was living with his parents because there was no employment opportunity. Eventually a mutual friend of ours ended up being the manager of a pizza shop and offered him a job (he had been told he was overqualified by the previous manager).

originally posted by: WanDash
a reply to: xuenchen
I have no problem with them having a decent (minimal, though it may be) wage...
I do have a problem with them giving POOR service.
Not just 'fast food', but 'decent-to-high-end' restaurants failing to deliver what was ordered...and...what was charged (meaning - PAID)...
Maybe it's just where I live (in fact, I think that is the case)...but, 8 out of 10 times - we do not get what was ordered.
Others say - "I don't leave the window 'til I've checked what's in the bags" - sorry - I rarely do... I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO.
They have my money ----- I should have what was paid for...
Anyway... Cha Cha Cha...
Havin' fun all the way.

Why should they bust their buns for minimum pay? I certainly wouldn't. I'd skive off at every opportunity. I'd eat for free. I'd do the bare minimum required of me and not a stroke more.

If I'm being taken advantage of, then I'm gonna return the favour ten-fold, in any way I can.

I hope the strike is successful. I hope it makes all other minimum wage earners have the confidence to do the same.

Bring back unions and let's give low/unskilled working people their dignity back.

STRIKE.

originally posted by: SearchLightsInc
My god, just pay the workers the workers the $15 an hour and raise the price of the products to cover it.

And therein lies the problem. As if raise prices for the consumer is the only option here.

These greedy corporations and CEOs raise the prices when a small breeze blows. But when the breeze stops do those prices ever go down again? Let me help you out here. No. Yet wages are stagnant.

I support these people. Won't be much support as I don't eat fast food but in spirit and all....

originally posted by: doobydoll
Why should they bust their buns for minimum pay? I certainly wouldn't. I'd skive off at every opportunity. I'd eat for free. I'd do the bare minimum required of me and not a stroke more.

More pay doesn't generate more competence. Once you realize that most people are going to disappoint you as they're doing their jobs, you can move past it. Just because they're bad at their job doesn't mean they don't deserve a living wage. Plenty of people are bad at their jobs, statistically most of us are average or worse and there's always going to be a below average.

a reply to: xuenchen

The self-order kiosks are coming. My local QT just installed two at their new short-order counter. Let them strike, and we'll see how quickly the fast food industry installs them. Computers don't go on strike, and they don't even need to be paid.

a reply to: Aazadan

Whatever gave you the idea that just because you have a job, any job, you deserve to make a living at it? Some jobs aren't worth a so-called living wage which is why they were never intended to be done as a career, fast food worker is one of them.

originally posted by: SpaDe_
No, I'm afraid that your argument is flawed, severely. Your argument assumes that anyone should be guaranteed a living wage. They are not, and should not be guaranteed this. You get what you work for, and frankly some jobs are just not worth paying a higher wage. The process to avoid being in one of these jobs is quite simple, if you don't like it find something else.

It's not flawed at all.
I didn't argue that all employers should be forced to pay a wage beyond the means of the employee, but a person needs to earn a wage capable of maintaining a basic standard of living.

I agree that many should probably not be working for these employers, and when I was young these jobs were considered only as a part time "first job", the kind of job you get right out of school. But, back then the cost of living was nothing near what it is now.

There is a basic income needed to survive, this is a fact of our society. So, the question is who pays for that standard to be met?

Is it you, the tax payer, having to support people who have no choice but to work in a below minimum wage job, or is it the corporation making billions in profits and removing that profit from the country and further diminishing the tax they are supposed to pay?

Either way you look at this the money has to come from somewhere, and no matter how you look at it the only party with money to pay is the corporation taking the profits out of the country into a tax haven.

originally posted by: MarlinGrace

originally posted by: DrinkMoreWater

Well, there is the basic need to provide for a family. If it is not met, crimes will be committed. That is forcible.

History does not support your point. Source

Families became closer during the depression and worked together.

Sorry, but this is just wrong.

The entire reason social systems of support were invented was to benefit the whole of society. You only need to look back through history to see the level of poverty experienced prior to social systems of support and the many problems that arose due to massive poverty.

Disease epidemics were common, with thousands of people dying every week from outbreaks in communities with no money to pay for medical care.
Social unrest is higher, with those living lavish lifestyles attacked routinely by mobs of angry and impoverished people.
Governments have confronted massive civil unrest throughout history, led by the poor demanding a better quality of life.

There is absolutely no doubt that social systems paid for by taxation create a more secure and safe society for EVERYONE.

originally posted by: catt3
a reply to: xDeadcowx

I don't see why they need to make $30,000 working a non skilled job. I get by on $20,000 but I am retired. If you don't want to make minimum wage learn a skill that is needed, there are plenty of jobs that you can even learn on the job that you might start out at minimum wage but in 3 or 4 years be making close to $20 an hour.

Umm, where are these jobs with great ladders to climb with these great pay raises?

Another thing, you are retired, a lot of your things were bought in 'ye olde days of yore', your house is probably paid for and your living expenses are low.

Nobody who works ANYWHERE should put up with being poor, where is the reward for working, oh yeah welfare is worse, that's the reward, you are not on welfare.

originally posted by: Aazadan

originally posted by: doobydoll
Why should they bust their buns for minimum pay? I certainly wouldn't. I'd skive off at every opportunity. I'd eat for free. I'd do the bare minimum required of me and not a stroke more.

More pay doesn't generate more competence. Once you realize that most people are going to disappoint you as they're doing their jobs, you can move past it. Just because they're bad at their job doesn't mean they don't deserve a living wage. Plenty of people are bad at their jobs, statistically most of us are average or worse and there's always going to be a below average.

A fair day's wage will get, more often than not, a fair day's work.

Fair treatment will get, more often than not, a loyal worker.

A happy worker is a more productive worker.

Productive worker = happy boss.

Plenty of people are bad at their jobs because their wages are bad. I'm not the only person on the planet who won't trade my maximum labour for minimum pay. My sweat is worth more than poverty wages.

Minimum pay gets minimum work. Fair's fair.

originally posted by: doobydoll
Plenty of people are bad at their jobs because their wages are bad. I'm not the only person on the planet who won't trade my maximum labour for minimum pay. My sweat is worth more than poverty wages.

Minimum pay gets minimum work. Fair's fair.

But with an increase of the minimum wage to $15/hour that's still minimum pay. Is it still worthy of minimum work?

People are bad at their jobs because they're bad at their jobs. How many of us have taken a recurring problem to an auto mechanic only to be charged well beyond minimum wage for a problem that never got solved? It's quite common and those people aren't making minimum wage.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Aazadan

Whatever gave you the idea that just because you have a job, any job, you deserve to make a living at it? Some jobs aren't worth a so-called living wage which is why they were never intended to be done as a career, fast food worker is one of them.

Yet for the first 40 years we had fast food workers they could and did make a living out of it. It has only been relatively recent where that job has been unable to support someone.

If the job is worth enough to an employer that they want to hire someone who has to support themselves, then the job should pay a wage where that is possible. We're always going to have unskilled labor jobs... fast food workers, cashiers, trash collectors, button pushers, secretaries, and so on. People have a right to not have to live off of welfare to have a roof and food. Otherwise that job clearly isn't worth enough to society to have done.

If the employer doesn't want to pay a living wage, they shouldn't hire people that need a living wage. To do otherwise is to simply use government welfare programs as a wage subsidy.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Aazadan

Whatever gave you the idea that just because you have a job, any job, you deserve to make a living at it? Some jobs aren't worth a so-called living wage which is why they were never intended to be done as a career, fast food worker is one of them.

What if I don't want a career? What if I just want 'a job'? Why should the type of work I do mean I don't deserve an acceptable standard of life?

We can't ALL be brain surgeons and lawyers.

I don't want a career. I don't expect £20 an hour, I just want to earn enough to pay my way in life.

Minimum pay should provide a minimum standard of living. Make bosses pay a fair wage, instead of taxpayers having to subsidize them.

I haven't read the entire thread but I wonder if anyone has interjected a reality here. Every single strike I have seen has been to begin talks. Anyone who has ever negotiated knows you do not ask for what you want or will settle for because you will never get it well 9 out of 10 times. You don't go to the table demanding $10 an hour if that is what you actually need to get. You have to leave room for negotiation. If they are demanding $15 they are hoping for $10. That is how it works.

I am sure there are some actually thinking $15 is the goal but those are not the ones who will be negotiating the actual sum. Most everyone here knows this...right?

Anyway I thought this was interesting.

originally posted by: Aazadan

originally posted by: doobydoll
Plenty of people are bad at their jobs because their wages are bad. I'm not the only person on the planet who won't trade my maximum labour for minimum pay. My sweat is worth more than poverty wages.

Minimum pay gets minimum work. Fair's fair.

But with an increase of the minimum wage to $15/hour that's still minimum pay. Is it still worthy of minimum work?

People are bad at their jobs because they're bad at their jobs. How many of us have taken a recurring problem to an auto mechanic only to be charged well beyond minimum wage for a problem that never got solved? It's quite common and those people aren't making minimum wage.

If workers are paid a fair day's pay they will be willing to put in a fair day's work. A fair day's pay is an amount which is enough to live on. It doesn't matter what you call it, if minimum wage was a 'fair' wage (one i can live on), i wouldn't be resentful and would be happy to put my back into it.

If a job pays fair wages, people generally will put in a bit more effort in order to keep that job.

originally posted by: Aazadan

originally posted by: tinker9917
And prices will all go up to match, so nothing will be gained.

This isn't true, because the costs aren't made up entirely from wages. You can increase the wage 100% without increasing the costs 100%. As a result the product doesn't have to go up 100%. In large corporations the cost of labor isn't really all that high. Fast Food CEO's have even said in the past they could cover a 100% wage increase while only increasing product costs by 1%. In practice in Australia they only had to increase the cost by 10% which resulted in 82% more buying power at the low end of the wage spectrum.

In reality most of the cost of a wage increase isn't even going to cost the consumer more because we get it back in lower taxes as a result of lower welfare spending.

I don't think anyone is trying to bash business owners here.

McDonald's Mission

We’re determined to continuously improve our social and environmental performance. We work hard, together with our suppliers and independent restaurant franchisees, to strive toward a sustainable future – for our company and the communities in which we operate.

From the beginning, we’ve been a company committed to doing the right thing. Today, our values continue to be the foundation for who we are, what we do, and how we operate.

lol.
I say regulate the corporation, they have the money to pay their workers and treat them better (see above), or kill it.
Maybe if all our restaurants weren't run using this corporate business model feeding people poison treating people like commodities we wouldn't have a problem.
But what do I know..

I do know that we have a lot of people struggling to live and maybe the problem is a little deeper than their wages.
I.E. Our country is screwed

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Aazadan

Whatever gave you the idea that just because you have a job, any job, you deserve to make a living at it? Some jobs aren't worth a so-called living wage which is why they were never intended to be done as a career, fast food worker is one of them.

And who determines which jobs are not worthy of a living wage?
No skills jobs?
Why bother with job training then, they will want skilz pay.