Police arresting fast-food workers and their supporters outside McDonald's headquarters

a reply to: Euphem

You know nothing of my life. I've been unlucky and now I'm broke. People like you are disgusting. You have no clue that all it takes is one unlucky break to be financially ruined and fail to realize how lucky you have been.

While hard work and a good attitude can help, it is a far cry from a guarantee to success.

While I may be broke I know I have the mentality and work ethic to make a lot of money, I just have to get lucky.

a reply to: TKDRL

My Dad also employed some people who had records. Not killers or anything. But he believed that if you teach a man a trade, he will have more self-respect and self-worth. During the downtown in the Reagan era, he refused to lay off, he wanted people to be able to keep their retirement. After this, the employees in the plant took up money to have a plaque made up to show their gratitude. Later after he sold the oompany, the unions came to try to unionize and the workers voted and I heard that the old-timers who had been there a long time voted against union. But then I heard the new owners were cutting benefits....
You seem kind of like my Dad, and people loved him.

a reply to: ThirdEyeofHorus

Unions can be good or bad. The politics of the union leaders should be irrelevant, I don't agree with a union pushing members to vote for a certain candidate. The idea that unions stop a corporation from achieving max profitability is a good one. The whole idea of a union is to ensure the workers get fair compensation, which can mean the company itself or the people at the top of the company get less. From what I know of the Hostess situation the union was in the wrong there, I don't agree with the money grab the top few executives did when they knew what was going to happen and had the opportunity to change the pay in their contracts but that's a drop in the bucket.

Unions are necessary in my opinion but I also believe they should be limited. A union should not be able to make a policy change aimed at doing nothing other than harming the company. They need to be focused on providing the workers with a fair wage while also making sure the companies business practices are sustainable. That's not currently happening with unions but to be fair it's not happening in non unionized companies either.

originally posted by: ThirdEyeofHorus
a reply to: Aazadanell, you know that sounds great in theory, but then once those workers start getting paid 15 bucks an hour to mop the floors, what is going to happen? It WILL cause a rise in price for the product, and then poor people will not even be able to afford McDonald's dinners.
Good JOB!!!!!!

Except real world examples such as Australia disagree with you. Wages are not 100% of a businesses cost, therefore an increase in the wage will not result in a proportional increase in the cost of goods. If wages are 25% of a companies expenses and wages are doubled, wages will then be 40% of expenses. The cost of production rises 25% while the compensation rose 100% so you could expect a 25% increase in the cost of goods. The end result is that if you were being paid $10/hour you would have the same buying power after the wage increase as if you were being paid $16 before the price increase.

originally posted by: jrod
I support fair wages, the First Amendment and the right to protest.

However, I am annoyed by those who think entry-level, no skill workers are worth $15 an hour. The entitlement of my generation is frightening. I have yet to meet anyone who thinks McDonald's workers deserve a huge pay raise who understands basic economics. That is a problem all over the US.

And I'm annoyed by people that think $15/hour is a lot of money. Our minimum wage used to be the equivalent of $22/hour today, and that time is looked back at as the ideal economy.

originally posted by: Aazadan

originally posted by: jrod
I support fair wages, the First Amendment and the right to protest.

However, I am annoyed by those who think entry-level, no skill workers are worth $15 an hour. The entitlement of my generation is frightening. I have yet to meet anyone who thinks McDonald's workers deserve a huge pay raise who understands basic economics. That is a problem all over the US.

And I'm annoyed by people that think $15/hour is a lot of money. Our minimum wage used to be the equivalent of $22/hour today, and that time is looked back at as the ideal economy.

I never said $15 an hour was a lot. It isn't. I can live off $10/an hour working 30 hours a week....however I will be living simply.

That is a great fact you pointed out. When adjusted for inflation, the entire middle class has taken a huge pay cut while the wealthiest are doing better than ever.

a reply to: WeRpeons

I live across the street from some people that own a couples of mcdonalds amd i can tell you that they are banking. never hard up, always a new car, its actually ridiculous.

originally posted by: jrod
I never said $15 an hour was a lot. It isn't. I can live off $10/an hour working 30 hours a week....however I will be living simply.

That is a great fact you pointed out. When adjusted for inflation, the entire middle class has taken a huge pay cut while the wealthiest are doing better than ever.

I agree, it's just easiest to measure at minimum wage. Our minimum wage in 1967 had the same purchasing power as our median wage today.

Over the past 30 years or so the bottom ~95% have seen a decrease in wages while the top 5% have seen a huge increase. Minimum wage isn't the only part of the problem that needs to be addressed but it's the most apparent, one of the easiest to fix, and helps to set the pace for other needed reforms.

originally posted by: jhn7537
a reply to: SearchLightsInc

Here in Chicago there's opportunity to take free community college courses and trade courses based off income level. My brother took advantage of this and he is finishing up a trade school right now. There are ways and opportunities out there to better yourself at little to no cost, increasing your odds to secure a higher earning position. You can act like it's impossible, but there's plenty of opportunity out there to better your own lives. People can keep complaining that there is no work out there, but there is. I can leave my job today and find work within one week. I may need to take a brief step back in my career, but that's just motivation to climb that career ladder again..

Prove this.

a reply to: Aazadan

In my opinion those who have received the biggest pay cut over the past 30 something years are the ones who are continually voting against their interests. It is truly sad.

As far as minimum wage, I think it is fine for a kid in high school. For a single person with no dependents, I know I can survive just fine on $10 an hour(as long as I do not have to take a mortgage out on my life in the name of Health Care). For someone with children I think something around $15 an hour would be fair.

I think the minimum wage should be based on one's needs.

a reply to: jjsr420
Free online courses are available. There are useful classes like math and computer programing one can sign up for.

CourseRA

originally posted by: jrod
As far as minimum wage, I think it is fine for a kid in high school. For a single person with no dependents, I know I can survive just fine on $10 an hour(as long as I do not have to take a mortgage out on my life in the name of Health Care). For someone with children I think something around $15 an hour would be fair.

Minimum wage is $7.45/hour not $10/hour so you have to survive on about 25% less. The current minimum wage is only fair if you're not expecting people to survive on it such as teenagers that live with their parents. That's not how things are structured though.

originally posted by: jrod
a reply to: jjsr420
Free online courses are available. There are useful classes like math and computer programing one can sign up for.

CourseRA

Classes and the skills you learn from them are still contingent on the jobs being available. You can have all the education in the world but if companies aren't hiring then you're back to working fast food. Look at how many people with college degrees in this country are working entry level dead end jobs (if they're lucky enough to be working in the first place) because the economy is so screwed up.

a reply to: Aazadan

Do you agree an escalating minimum wage scale is the most fair?

The problem of course is it burdens the employer, however if there was a tax break to make up for the burden it might work. It probably wouldn't cost tax payers more money because with more people earning a livable wage the demand for welfare will go down.

And as you pointed, if they companies are not hiring then there is not much a person can do. In other words if there are more workers than available jobs we as a society are still heavily burdened.

How about everybody apply at a job. Do the interview. Agree on wages. And then cry about how little you get paid and expect worldwide pitty... It is entry level, even if it wasn't, go apply for another job. If you don't find one DEAL WITH IT.....

a reply to: 3u40r15m

A person earning minimum wage about 40 years could afford the same standard of living as someone who today makes over $20 an hour.

The minimum wage goes about a third of the way it did before all this trickle down economic theory got put into practice. It is not as simple as you think it is.

I suggest you watch the documentary Inequality for All to get some insight on the state of the economy.

a reply to: jrod

I guess it depends where you live. I'll look at that video when I have some time though.

originally posted by: jrod
a reply to: Aazadan

Do you agree an escalating minimum wage scale is the most fair?

The problem of course is it burdens the employer, however if there was a tax break to make up for the burden it might work. It probably wouldn't cost tax payers more money because with more people earning a livable wage the demand for welfare will go down.

And as you pointed, if they companies are not hiring then there is not much a person can do. In other words if there are more workers than available jobs we as a society are still heavily burdened.

I don't because it's too easy to abuse. Getting a roommate to save money means your needs go down and you can be paid less. Moving in with a significant other does the same thing as you now have two incomes. Having a child gets you a raise. Such a policy encourages lavish lifestyles with way more kids than one should have because it directly results in being paid more money.

originally posted by: 3u40r15m
How about everybody apply at a job. Do the interview. Agree on wages. And then cry about how little you get paid and expect worldwide pitty... It is entry level, even if it wasn't, go apply for another job. If you don't find one DEAL WITH IT.....

I apply for jobs all the time. The fast food places tell me I'm over qualified, the places where I hold proper qualifications have 50 applicants for every one job (if you're not mathematically inclined this means only 2% of people get a job). My old employer before my position was eliminated due to cost cutting (read: I couldn't agree to work for less than i already was which was $4/hour, and no it wasn't tipped) I worked at for 3 years. No opportunity for advancement and no raise (in fact wages went backwards).

My solution is to try self employment but as I'm finding out it's quite common for companies to reneg on payment when work is completed and without the ability to afford a lawyer I can't actually take them to court to ensure I get paid.

When you say deal with it, how do you expect people to deal with it? When there are no jobs and no safety nets there aren't many options. If I were willing to commit a crime I have to admit that jail looks pretty appealing now, I could eat more than once a day (if that) and I would get a guaranteed roof over my head. That is the reality of the opportunity available in the US right now... atleast where I live.