Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I just read a featured story on Bing about how a fast-food working movement is about to go global. It said they are demanding $15.00 per hour. It said something about Obama maybe making it to $10.10. Personally, I don't think they will be raising it that high anytime soon. Well, the $15 anyways, but maybe the $10.
Any thoughts about this? If places will be able to sustain that? Or would even want to?
Dream on! Fast food has always drawn its labor from the bottom of the societal heap, and this has intensified since high school and college students in upscale ares often have better opportunities -- if they have to work at all. The "rough edges" do leave an opportunity for the motivated to advance into managerial roles fairly quickly, but since managerial "soft skills" are widely distributed among the public and interchangeable, one can only get so far. The real responsibility, and the real potential reward rests, as always, with the entrepreneurial franchisee.
If the current occupant of the White House seeks to pay his debts to that segment of the labor force which offers its blind loyalty because it is too unmotivated to recognize other options, then the patrons (of whom there still seems to be a generous supply) will simply be asked to foot the bill.
I believe Seattle has already raised their minimum wage to $15 per hour, or at least is very close to passing it.
The fact that these unskilled labor jobs are demanding more money is a testament to how bad things really are in this country. While the current administration claims unemployment numbers are down each month and they've added tens of thousands of new jobs, it is these type of jobs that are skewing the numbers. Minimum wage jobs, part-time jobs, unskilled labor etc. There was a time when working at McDonald's was for high school and college kids or bored housewives. Now, these are jobs that are needed by families to survive. They are turning into long term careers and are no longer jobs that are taken for granted.
I don't have a problem paying them a living wage, I just wish the greedy corporate CEOs were willing to take a cut in order to pay them more. Instead, it comes out of the consumer's pocket in the way of price increases. Either way, I would rather see these workers earn a better wage at McDonald's than sit at home on welfare doing nothing at the taxpayers expense.
I believe Seattle has already raised their minimum wage to $15 per hour, or at least is very close to passing it.
The fact that these unskilled labor jobs are demanding more money is a testament to how bad things really are in this country. While the current administration claims unemployment numbers are down each month and they've added tens of thousands of new jobs, it is these type of jobs that are skewing the numbers. Minimum wage jobs, part-time jobs, unskilled labor etc. There was a time when working at McDonald's was for high school and college kids or bored housewives. Now, these are jobs that are needed by families to survive. They are turning into long term careers and are no longer jobs that are taken for granted.
I don't have a problem paying them a living wage, I just wish the greedy corporate CEOs were willing to take a cut in order to pay them more. Instead, it comes out of the consumer's pocket in the way of price increases. Either way, I would rather see these workers earn a better wage at McDonald's than sit at home on welfare doing nothing at the taxpayers expense.
That is exactly what my mom said. About it used to be for teens for extra cash now its for people supporting families.
$15 an hour minimum wage is barely a living wage in places like The San Francisco Bay area or new York city but if you go to Tennessee or Ohio it is a good wage so it is all relative.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
26,700 posts, read 41,763,058 times
Reputation: 41381
I've been saying this all along. The $15/hr demand is nothing but a negotiating tactic. Start high, so you can settle for favorable terms. I think this demand group would feel a $10-11/hr min wage across the US would be a success. I personally want to see a $10/hr min wage across the US and see no reason why that can't happen.
I just read a featured story on Bing about how a fast-food working movement is about to go global. It said they are demanding $15.00 per hour. It said something about Obama maybe making it to $10.10. Personally, I don't think they will be raising it that high anytime soon. Well, the $15 anyways, but maybe the $10.
Any thoughts about this? If places will be able to sustain that? Or would even want to?
It would be nice to raise the min. wage.
There's no question raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour be a shock to the system. The minimum wage has been so low for so long, millions of companies--entire industries, in fact--now operate on businesses models that presuppose the ready availability of cheap, disposal labor.
But what choice is there? The minimum wage has not kept up with the rate of inflation. If it had, it would be over $15 an hour already. And if the minimum wage had kept pace with rising worker productivity, it would now be over $20 an hour. In real terms, workers at (or near) the minimum wage level have actually been steadily losing income for decades. Meanwhile, the cost of living has only gone up.
Add to this the fact that U.S. taxpayers now effectively subsidize minimum wage employers to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars each year. This is because the minimum wage is so low, people who earn it still qualify for all sorts of public welfare benefits!
This is just not sustainable. Whatever short-term hardships raising the minimum wage brings, it will, in time, be offset by the fact people will have more money to spend. That will increase consumer demand, which will help the economy.
If it comes to pass, kiosks will be programmed to ask:
"Would you like fries with that?"
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
