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 could go back 40 years and say that about the auto industry. How much do those people get paid for manual labor now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 30to66at55
Please study a bit more before making such a ridiculous statement. Auto workers were high paid in the post war era.
I think the point being made is that; back then, even the low skilled workers of the auto industry were paid a decent salary. Now that's gone. And what we got is multinationals paying the lowest possible - clearly below a living wage- while having the government pick up the slack, and subsidizing wages with foodstamps, medicaid and what not.
Back then these subsidies were not needed and many of those workers, doing basically what was manual and physically intense labor were able to purchase homes and raise a family not luxuriously but fairly comfortably.
There's a huge income disparity in the U.S., in fact, the worst in the developed world.
Slowly we're becoming a becoming a third world country, where a tiny oligarchy controls vasts amounts of wealth, while a huge portion of the population is just getting by.
This, imo, the biggest security threat this country has faced in decades. And if unaddressed, this might very well mean the beginning of the end.
New industries are not materializing fast enough to replace the ones that are shrinking or dying. Now the law and computer industries have come under pressure. HP and Dell are having a rough time while Microsoft and IBM are seeing a less bright future. Think about what will eventually happen to the workers in these sectors and where else they can find employment.
Not really. Keep targetting the industry and keep pushing the point McDonalds is only viable because its workers are getting cash assistance, food stamps, and medcaid. In short, money is taking from taxpayers, and used to subsidize the operations of fast food workers.
Something is wrong with a business model if needs government subsidizes like that . They need to pay their workers enough money not to do welfare. You need reform in McDonalds labor practices and business models.
Which should also bring up welfare reform. If welfare for the individual "poor" person, or is it really a way to subsidize businesses and FAILING business models? Because if your workers can't survive on the wages you pay and you're a large corporation, you have a failing business that needs to go UNDER.
Now, if McDonalds and other companies like this can afford to pay more money, then they need to. Plain and simple, after all, these are Fortune 500 companies, not Mom and Pop Stores.
Its amazing, that comparatively poor people rush to defend the CEOs of wealthy fast food operations, though they will never see that degree of success in their own careers.
The uneducated dolts that work at McDonalds would be on welfare anyway. McDonalds is simply putting a few bucks into their pockets .
When are you lib fools on here going to realize every job is not equal and not deserving of anything more than a few bucks an hour.
Likeminas is absolutely right and this is the fundamental problem here. These corporations can pay abysmal wages because the government (taxpayers) pay the cost of the employee. What does that mean? Mcdonald's (in this case) pays it's employees minimum wage, and oftentimes gives them less than 40 hours per week, so because they earn so little they receive housing assistance (Section 8) from the government, food stamps from the government, welfare/cash assistance from the government, and healthcare (medicaid) from the government.
So whereas 40 years ago every unskilled job paid a decent salary that a person can raise a family with, corporations have decided to instead pay employees nothing, have government (taxpayers) pick up the rest, and simply hoard all the money to enrich the executive board and CEO etc.
The simple minded will say "well they deserve nothing, they have no skills, blah blah blah"...but those with a knowledge of history, government, and corporate takeover over the last 30 years (since Reagan) know that it is a systemic issue created for the pure benefit of corporations, and it is spreading to every job.
Here is a question: If everyone is all about free market, why would a private company like Fresh Direct get $135 million from NYC taxpayers to move their office from LIC to the Southern Bronx on public land? Just more of the same...pushing all the costs of business onto taxpayers with no benefit at all to taxpayers...another monumental fleecing. And it is getting worse.
If it means that everyone, at every job, regardless of age, has good pay, benefits, vacation, sick days...the answer is obviously YES..we all win. Who would be against that? You do realize that people eagerly pay that and more already for coffee and there is no societal benefit.
The people who buy from McDonalds are by and large low income/poor (though I did patronize their Tribeca branch for coffee until I realized that Starbucks offered unlimited chocolate powder). They are the ones who can least afford higher food prices. Imagine if they had to pay $10 for burger & fries. Higher costs will be passed on to consumers one way or another. I'm OK with price increases but what about someone who makes $30K/year?
Another thing you need to consider is that with some reconfiguring of their work processes and automation, they need far less workers then they use today (observe some of the better-run Dunkin Donuts stores that are eating into their market share for breakfast food). They can actually eliminate a good portion of their staff and they will end up making zero. When wages are no longer justified, companies do look at automation as a way to cut headcount.
So the answer is to provide every job, for everyone, a decent wage with benefits, that way there are no people who can't afford the $10 burger and fries..see how easy that is? NO MORE WORRIES...NOTHING ELSE TO CONSIDER.
Yes but as I posted earlier, new industries are not popping up fast enough to replace the ones that are dying. Now even HP and Dell are troubled and IBM and MS are seeing bleaker horizons. Those are good jobs going away. How to find good paying work for all those who will be displaced is going to be a big headache.
The people who buy from McDonalds are by and large low income/poor (though I did patronize their Tribeca branch for coffee until I realized that Starbucks offered unlimited chocolate powder). They are the ones who can least afford higher food prices. Imagine if they had to pay $10 for burger & fries. Higher costs will be passed on to consumers one way or another. I'm OK with price increases but what about someone who makes $30K/year?
.
Yeah right..only poor people eat at McDonalds...that's why the only places you see Mcds are in da ghetto.
Maybe you and your effete friends only dine on Starbucks Croissants and Organic Jelly so you just dont understand that many different people go to McDs.
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.
