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The lower wages these businesses pay is simply a result of the lower profit margins they operate on. Apart from being mentally retarded, there is no reason (especially with all the student aid available today) that someone can't go to college or trade school to train for careers that pay solid wages.
McDonald's has to hold down their prices, due to competition. If prices go over a certain level, people quit going to those stores any longer. They have priced out a large part of their business.
If the minimum wage were raised, then all the restaurants would have to meet the standard. A rising tide floats all boats.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldtrader
The store will just fire most of the help, and put in an automated burger making system. On person keeping the bins stocked, and the machine turns out 350 burgers per hour. At today's wages for typical McDonald's the machine will pay for itself in one year. Raise the wages to $15 per hour, and the machine will pay for itself in a very few months, and then will earn the owner higher profits.
Push for unions and $15 an hour wages, and you will be immediately replaced with a machine to make the burgers, and a touch screen ordering and paying system. One person to fill the machine bins, one to hand out the order. One to keep the lobby clean. And the owners will greatly increase their profits for the restaurant.
The burger machine is an interesting concept, but there are a lot of questions I have.
-- There is no mention of operating costs. The true savings would come at peak times like lunch and dinner, but is it cost effective to operate during off peak times when the restaurant sells only 20 burgers per hour?
-- Where is the breakfast machine? Where is the machine that makes all the various forms of chicken and fish meals, wraps, and salads? These meals make up a substantial portion of fast food menus. Until a machine can do it all, humans will be the choice for owners.
-- How many machines would a restaurant need? It seems prudent to have at least 2 because if one fails, then you need a second machine to continue on, otherwise the restaurant has to close until it is fixed. Do you keep a repairman on site at all times?
-- How easy is it to clean the machine everyday? I would not buy a burger from a machine that wasn't cleaned several times a day. Raw meat sitting in a machine all day seems like a recipe for e.coli to me. There has to be meat residue in there, so if there is residue sitting at room temperature for a long time, it would contaminate the meat for my burger as it passed through. What's cheaper, humans or a huge lawsuit every time someone gets sick?
-- How long will it take for a factory to be created to mass manufacture this machine?
It's a burger flipping job, what does she expect it to pay ? These are not career positions, nor meant to be, most people do it to get to another better paying job or career or are young and entry level.
Ok, let's say McD starts paying them all $15 an hour, what will that do to the prices of food there ? Would any of us pay twice as much for our Happy Meal ? I wouldn't. There are no locks on the door keeping her working there, she can leave any time she wants.
Let's not make McD the bad guy here, there are literally thousands and thousands of other companies, usually in retail sales, that don't pay much more than that. It is just the way it is and if you don't like it you don't take the job.
Don
Agree. Here in Canada MCD just upped all their prices due to wage increases,
nobody at McD here is making $ 7 an hr, trust me, wages are much higher here,
minimum wage is $ 11, I bet with a bit of seniority some are making close to $ 15 an hour,
and unfortunately the prices here reflect that.
The other day I ordered two Hot Fudge Sundaes at the drive thru and
was surprised when McD employee responded "That'll be $ 5.85"
$ 5.85 for two crappy McD Sundaes
Didn't seem that long ago they were about $ 1 each and cones only 65 cents
If the minimum wage is raised, the only people who are sensitive to a few cents difference in price will have had a pay raise. Most people don't think "hmmmm, I think I'll have a quarter pounder for lunch. Oh, wait! A quarter pounder just went up from $2.10 to $2.15. Darn them, I'll have nothing!". The California increases are causing fast food places to raise their price 1-2%. On a $1 burger, that's 1-2 cents. You'd really choose Burger King over McD's for a price difference which many people leave on the counter? (explainer - the US still has one cent coins. Many people throw them away, and businesses have a little tray on their counter where you can dump them) http://www.businessweek.com/articles...ice-also-rises
Quote:
Originally Posted by seain dublin
She is also 27 and has four kids. I would bet money it's not with the same man.
In 10 yrs she could have earned a degree even going to school part time and have a much better job. Instead of popping out kids.
Talk about an entitlement mentality.
Not everyone is able to a job more demanding than retail, fast food or janitorial. They arguably work harder than many white collar workers, regardless of the IQ required to do the job. Don't they deserve a wage that's enough to cover all the basics?
Last edited by WildColonialGirl; 08-01-2014 at 06:56 AM..
Who are you, the paternity police? It's not your business who anyone else has kids with. Sheesh!
It's WAY more entitled to think you get to pass judgement on someone else's personal choices than it is to want to be paid a living wage for one's labor.
Yes it is our business when you demand minimum wage of $15.00 and FEDERAL WAGES come directly OUT OF OUR POCKETS.
AND, BTW, we are already feeding her children 3 meals a day 365. TAX DOLLARS.
I cant wait to see how the "free" birth control works out. (as if it didn't exist before)
P.S. Can you PLEASE PLEASE try and get my ORDER RIGHT? I said "Quarter Pounder with lettuce tomato ketchup only". And I've been saying that for about 30 years. Why is it confusing????
If it's impossible to pay a decent wage and have good prices, how does Market Basket manage to be the cheapest supermarket in the region, with the greatest range, the best quality and pay its managers six figures and cashiers $40,000 a year, and earn massive customer loyalty along the way?
If it's impossible to pay a decent wage and have good prices, how does Market Basket manage to be the cheapest supermarket in the region, with the greatest range, the best quality and pay its managers six figures and cashiers $40,000 a year, and earn massive customer loyalty along the way?
Partly because it's privately owned. You have fewer people who are sharing the profits.
It's also partly because the culture in Massachusetts is different, as MA has traditionally been a liberal/progressive-thinking state. So the people who are running Market Basket chain simply have a different philosophical view on how their business should be run and how their workers should be treated.
How does she feel "entitled" just because during 10 years of working she wants to be making MORE than what she started out with?
I'm pretty sure she is making more than she started out at 10 years ago. Her beef is that she isn't making more than what minimum wage is NOW. My guess is that she started at minimum wage 10 years ago, got slight increases every time minimum wage jumped, but no real merit increases.
It costs about $250,000 to raise one child from birth to age 18 these days. Want to be rich? No kids. This woman could have had $1,000,000 in her pocket in a quarter century simply by not having any kids.
Yikes. As others have mentioned, it's time to move on. With 10 years under her belt, this gal could start at a competing restaurant for the current minimum wage.
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