Fast-food worker strike about to go global

a reply to: Aazadan
Funny you should mention that, cause back then more was expected of the employee, and thus they got an equivelant wage. Consider this, back then people had to count back the cash, and they had a higher standard than what all is required today, where the reputation of a company was based on its employees. And then there was job security. A person would get hired and expect to be at the same job and carreer for years. But those days are long gone.

Now the skills required are no longer needed, and job security is a fleeting thought.

a reply to: sdcigarpig

Wow OK I am glad you cleared that up because the way you wrote your last post it seemed like you thought employers had to pay low wages. As long as your aware that's a choice from the employer on how much above min wage they pay and not the legislatures.

originally posted by: sdcigarpig

Money is the faith in trade, not just imaginary, it has some value, though some are not as secure as others, but that is for the economist to discuss and debate on.

In other words, money is imaginary...

I do not believe that there are no jobs out there.

Yes, there is always Walmart. But I tend to hold People a little higher than to enslave them at Walmart. If anything, they should be running their own business that does the same job as Walmart. But under capitalism, such an ideal could hardly ever be achieved.

And by job, I mean, something that will actually contribute to the betterment of society. You know, do we really need another wall street employee or do we need another researcher to find a cure and / or prevention to cancer? Of course, you will tell me we need wall street employees. (wall street intentionally lowered-cased to show my disgust, and you should consider doing the same.)

I expect to be paid what the law dictates and work to earn what they want to pay me in a timely manner. And if I am not happy with the job, I can always go out and find another position and then give a 2 week notice and leave the prior job.

Excellent! You just proved my point yet again. The Law dictates slavery. We just don't call it that.

Greed is not such a bad thing,

Ok, now I'm starting to wonder if you're just trolling me. You already proved my point twice, so either you're being dead serious and just don't realize you're proving my point, or you're just trolling me... but I'll assume the former.

Next time you think greed is bad, then please, take a step back not go to the stores to purchase any food or clothing, no cleaning supplies.

Yes, you present a moral dilemma I have been dealing with. However, I have not purchased any new clothes nearly seven years. Each step I take with the shoes I wear, my feet burns in pain, but this is to remind me that millions -no- billions are living in pain.

If I can help it, I refuse to benefit off slave labor. If I have to benefit off of slave labor, then I am using to further advance and develop myself. I will put an end to slavery, or so help you God, that this world will burn in Hell for her sins.

99% of the things we use in modern life, was all inspired by someone who wanted to make money, fueled by greed and a fierce sense of competition.

Actually, I think you better go study your Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr. And to add a few inventors, you should check out Nikola Tesla, Samuel Morse, and Thomas Edison (before he sold his soul to the corporations).

Of course, you could make the argument that those good Souls fall under the 1%. But I have faith in humanity. As King Solomon wrote, "God made humankind upright, and humans have gone in search of many schemes."

So I have said it once, and I'll say it again, you do NOT need greed for society to advance. Money is imaginary. And fast food workers making dirt pay is just unacceptable, and has got to change.

a reply to: Aazadan

Within a few years that job will be automated.

Yes!!! Thank you. I am glad someone addressed this. This is why our economy needs to evolve.

What are We the People going to do for jobs? What we need today is to educate We the People to work in real jobs like research. Now they say that at the current rate (without any change) 1 out of 3 adults will have diabetes. (Of course, this won't happen...I sure hope not...) So why don't we have 1 out of 3 adults working on a cure for diabetes? Do you see?

And our un-education system trains People into thinking that they are not slaves when they really are.

What we need today is a society where everyone has a "back-up" job for when electricity fails. Where would we be without our microwaves, without our refrigerators, without our cars, our tvs, our computers, our cellphones, etc.

Let me tell you, if electricity was to fail, We the People and Our Constitution would also fail. There is no argument here. The fast food employees should have been making $15 an hour 15 years ago.

I hope it shuts them all down, that # causes more problems and costs than cigarettes and bad pharmaceuticals combined.

originally posted by: WanDash

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.

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

...

Good for you.
Your work ethic and expectation is nothing like mine.
I have worked minimum wage, and have worked full time for less than minimum wage (colloquially called "Chinese Overtime")... I still gave my best effort.
I applied for the position/s... They didn't come to me and beg for my assistance - didn't promise me a Jaguar. I 'needed the work/income' and gave my best regardless of the poor pay.

My expectations arise from when I left school in 1974 aged 16, and had my pick of jobs in the textile industry. My place of work was a 20 minute walk from home, as were most of the many textile manufacturers.

I worked piece rates where the harder I worked, the more I earned. In 1992, I was able to earn £300+ a week after tax, early finish Fridays, 2 x 10 minute breaks and 30 minutes for lunch every day, and wages were paid in cash money. I had a contract of employment for 40 hours a week, every week. I earned excellent money and I worked bloody hard for it. Grievances were listened to and resolved. Workers were treated with respect and we were happy in our jobs. None of us were claiming any benefits whatsoever, we didn't have to, we had plenty of money left to spend after paying bills.

In 2014, I am expected to take a contract which is for 0 hours work. If I am lucky enough to get work, I am expected to travel miles to get there, I am expected to break my back working with no reasonable breaks for up to 16 hours a day, for £6 an hour. I am not allowed to talk to other workers whilst on shift. And if I dare raise a grievance it is made obvious to me that I won't be required for work again. As if all that doesn't sound bad enough, I will also be forced to claim benefits so that I can pay my rent, local taxes, and bills.

I have my early working years to compare to how it is today, and I don't know how it has got so bad as it is.

My work ethic is as strong as it ever was, but I absolutely won't work for nothing. There is no dignity in working all hours God sends and still have to go cap in hand to the government for help to survive, just to be branded a bone-idle, drug-addicted, alcoholic scrounger. Screw that.

I expect better in return for my sweat. I've had better before, and I'm not getting off my arse for anything less.

a reply to: doobydoll
Thanks for the thoughtful response.
The employment & economic climate has disintegrated...or, at least, grown sour.
You almost have to cut-off both arms and legs for the company just to get an "atta boy"...and then, they ask for another set of arms and legs.
I am convinced, though, that this 'oppressiveness' comes from the very top.
Employers have simply adjusted to the evolutionary regime, and will continue to do so for as long as they can survive/thrive...at which point, only government/s and 'monopolies' will remain.
This is the kind of civil engineering, though, that is being drilled into university business management students (and has been, for years, if not decades). Care-less... Bottom-line Only... Looking for robots... Honoring, rewarding & advancing ONLY the brownest noses.

a reply to: WanDash


My thought on the root cause of the problem is businesses have failed to adapt to changing business models. We're supposed to be capitalists where the person who can embrace the new more profitable way of doing things is richly rewarded. Instead the large corporations have basically coerced the government into maintaining the old ways and we all pay.

Had everyone invested heavily in automation fewer employees would have been needed for the past decade or longer. This would have resulted in lower incomes, where the cost of living is lower helped by automation lowering prices. In response to this the work week would have declined. Instead of everyone working 40, we would instead be working 30 as a full week. Everyone would be employed at fewer hours. Profit margins would be in place, and we would all be employed but have easier work.

Companies didn't do this however, they made decisions to instead globalize and reduce wages. Rather than invest in technology at home where we could have a worker making $20/hour at 30 hours/week, they instead hired workers at 25 cents/hour in third world countries. The need for labor didn't disappear, it instead just got cheaper. As businesses have expanded the need for labor has actually risen. Now those companies are in a spot where they have to offer low wages because it's not possible to meet their labor needs at a higher rate of pay.

Had these companies made better choices in the past we would all benefit now. Instead we're looking at the reinstatement of slavery to meet labor needs, and the large corporations lobby the government to keep things this way rather than reward those who would have done things better.

Rather than invest in technology at home where we could have a worker making $20/hour at 30 hours/week, they instead hired workers at 25 cents/hour in third world countries

Obviously, you have never been to a 'third world' country. The workers are well trained and highly compensated in the fine art of screwing American tourist out of every single cent they have. My favorite was always grabbing your bag and demanding a 'finders fee' or-and oldie but a goodie-"ah yankee we only have room on second floor of bordello next to free clinic"

The Italians would cheat Jesus Christ if given the chance. "no sir you at wrong flop take 80 mile taxi ride and you will find room'

a reply to: WanDash
I understand that in America, if I work waiting tables my minimum wage would be boosted with tips, and that these tips are included on a customer's bill. Workers are guaranteed tips.

Here in the UK, I work waiting tables for minimum pay and that's all. Tips are left up to the customer, and many often don't/won't tip.

I have worked as a delivery driver for Domino's Pizza for minimum pay, running around with customers orders in torrential rain, getting stuck in snow, standing on doorsteps with a smile despite shivering and soaked to the skin waiting for them to answer their door, and no tip. My boss was an immigrant from Pakistan, and when he bought the franchise he reduced our working week so he could import his relatives and give them jobs with near full time hours. I used to hear them bragging that they'd worked 90+ hours some weeks, while I was lucky to get anywhere between 4-16 hours work in a whole week. Many were forced to leave because they weren't earning anything.

I'm not proud to admit it but some weeks I was so broke I often didn't eat, and I was so hungry I looked forward to going to work because I could steal a bit of hot food. I once asked my boss if I could take home a pizza that had been sent back from a customer, there was nothing wrong with it but had the wrong toppings on or something, he told me I could have it for half price, but I was flat broke. He took the pizza and dumped it in the bin. I couldn't believe it.

That's when I started to steal food, but not because I wanted to get even with my boss or anything like that, but because I was so broke and so hungry.

When my car broke down my boss fired me and gave my job to his nephew. I had worked at that same store for 7 years by this time. I haven't managed to find a job since. Companies don't want to employ over 50's. I ended up losing my home I'd bought 15 years previous because I could no longer pay the mortgage.

So, after losing everything I had to show for my years of hard work since leaving school in 1974, and knowing I have less than no chance of ever earning enough to live on if I ever do find a job, I feel defeated. I can't be bothered with it all any more.

Screw it all.

I guess gone are the days of these happy employees

Where I live fast food workers get around 15-18$ an hour and they totally deserve it and anyone who thinks otherwise is not getting it. CEO's and corporate big wigs are taking too much of the pie and because of that the government is further strained by people having a job but still in need of assistance. Fast food companies can afford to pay more but they only seem to do that in places like where I live because people just wont work there if the wage isn't competitive with other jobs in the area. I only ever like to eat at A&W and their prices are still decent but I boycott Mcd's and a few other chains like the plague. Keep treating the people who serve your food like slaves and you can't blame them for spitting in your food.

Today is the 15th, are there any demonstrations anywhere?

originally posted by: catt3
Today is the 15th, are there any demonstrations anywhere?

Looks like it !!

Fast food workers strike for higher wages

NEW YORK — Hundreds of fast food workers walked off their jobs in dozens of U.S. cities on Thursday -- reportedly forcing at least a few locations to temporarily close or re-staff while mostly managers filled-in -- as sympathetic protesters in several dozen countries joined in a united call for wages of $15 an hour and the right to form a union.

No violence was reported early Thursday. Restaurants such as McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and KFC are being targeted. The strike, targeting the $200 billion fast-food industry at a time of intense competition, is aimed at directing consumer attention to the low wages of most fast-food workers. The one-day campaign continues protests launched 18 months ago.

originally posted by: DrinkMoreWater

originally posted by: catt3
Give them their $15hr and let the price of a burger go to $10 - $15 and then see how long they have jobs. Fast food isn't a necessity.

. We don't need rich people hoarding it and putting it into the global economy.

That sentence contradicts itself.

a reply to: xuenchen
Thanks, I hadn't seen anything.

www.cnet.com... well like i said earlier here come the robots

www.youtube.com...

www.youtube.com... documentry on robots

dailycaller.com...

I just went to Arby's and got two sandwiches, turkey bacon club with ranch. Very good tasting and it only cost $14.00. Two sandwiches, no fries and no drink. $14.00. If wages go to $15 or more per hour how much will those two sandwiches cost me? $20.00 ? $25.00 ? I am not poor but at some point I will refuse to go to fast food places and just go to a regular restaurant where I can get lunch with a beer for around $20.00, the food is usually better and the service is better as well.

originally posted by: habfan1968
I just went to Arby's and got two sandwiches, turkey bacon club with ranch. Very good tasting and it only cost $14.00. Two sandwiches, no fries and no drink. $14.00. If wages go to $15 or more per hour how much will those two sandwiches cost me? $20.00 ? $25.00 ? I am not poor but at some point I will refuse to go to fast food places and just go to a regular restaurant where I can get lunch with a beer for around $20.00, the food is usually better and the service is better as well.

If the statements by the CEO's are to believed $14.14. If the real life example of Australia is mimiced $15.40.