re: "Fast Food Workers: You Don’t Deserve $15 an Hour to Flip Burgers and That’s OK"

quote:

---

Hmmmmmm, I wonder what the common denominator is...

---

I assume you're implying that the workers at BK and Wendy's are mostly black. While I agree, there are many black employees at Canes, CFA and Izzos. The difference is that it is readily apparent Canes, CFA and Izzos actually give a shite about the kind of person they employ (regardless of race or gender) and make it a point of emphasis for those people to do their job well. As a result, I suspect the employees at Canes, CFA and Izzos on avg get paid more than your avg. BK or Wendy's worker.

However, the employees at Canes, CFA and Izzos aren't paid more simply because their company has some sort of "moral compass" that the others don't. It's because the employees have earned better pay based upon their job performance.

I suspect the employees bitching about a higher minimum wage are primarily the ones making minimum wage because their skill set and job performance make them virtually useless. Otherwise, they'll never be able to earn better pay because what company would in their right mind give them a raise for being a horrible employee? Believe me, the good employees are making more than minimum wage. Why? because they are valuable to the business.

The thing these idiots don't understand along with the bleeding hearts that "stand up" for them is that if the co. is forced to artificially pay them more than market value, the company will react in one of three ways:

1. Cut the workforce as a whole and go to more automation
2. Cut the dead weight and pay the good workers more to do more work
3. Increase the costs to the consumer, thus lowering the amount of customers.

In all three cases thought, the worthless employees will quickly be out of a job (not that they really care anyway).

quote:

---

If you raise minimum wage to $15 an hour, there will be near instant inflation. Because the other jobs will have to compete and raoise their wages.

Burger king and grocery stores and everyone else will have to raise prices to pay the labor cost. That in turn, means that your purchasing power is essentially the same.

---

No it doesn't. We've raised the minimum wage many times in the past. We know what happens when you raise the minimum wage. It makes a difference. When you raise the minimum wage, prices go up slightly, but not enough to offset the increased wages that employees at the bottom of the ladder are now earning. Businesses have to make up the rest of the difference by accepting smaller profits. Some businesses can't afford that and fail. Other businesses can afford that, and then when their minimum wage employees are finally being paid a living wage, they can spend their money to spend and other businesses become more profitable.

At the moment, McD's, Walmart, etc... are paying their employees to little money to live on. Those employees have to rely on welfare and food stamps to survive. So the tax payers are subsidizing the Walmart workforce while the higher ups rake in massive profits.

quote:

---

At the moment, McD's, Walmart, etc... are paying their employees to little money to live on. Those employees have to rely on welfare and food stamps to survive. So the tax payers are subsidizing the Walmart workforce while the higher ups rake in massive profits.

---

you really believe the min wage doesn't set the market? People currently making $15 an hour would want a raise...anyone currently making more than min wage would want the same bump in pay. If you are paying non skilled labor $15 an hour than skilled labor would be worth more also.

Min wage will never/should ever constitute a "living wage". The goverment will always provide assistance for these people.

quote:

---

Therefore, the minimum wage quite clearly is a standard of living wage. If you're saying you think the minimum wage shouldn't exist at all, then say that, but your post makes absolutely no sense.

---

WTF?

quote:

---

i guess one could make an argument for that, but there is nothing clear about it.

---

Absolutely nothing clear about it because there is no consensus on what a "Living wage" is.

Wal Mart and McDonalds can probably absorb labor costs long enough to watch their smaller competitors collapse.

The biggest problem to everyone's altruistic leanings on this issue is the fact that if we would have $15 minimum wage over night (1-2 years of incremental changes would still be "overnight" in economical terms), the apple cart wouldn't only be upset. It would be on fire rolling into a ravine with starving raccoons at the bottom ready to eat cooked apples.

Let's say that $7.25 represents the baseline of "1 wage".

That is roughly $15,000 per year (261 working days as a baseline also)

If you make $60,000, you make 4 "wages" per year. Thus the economy deems your job 4x more valuable than a minimum wage worker.

If the minimum wage suddenly raises to $15 per hour, or roughly $31,000, your $60,000 job just became devalued vs the $15,000 job because the baseline for labor is now $30,000.

Will your company universally raise everyone's pay proportionally to compensate for the baseline? Doubtful. HIGHLY unlikely. So you just became poorer while the minimum wage worker's temporarily increased spending power put them to 1/2 of you, but only until inflation catches up. Once the market levels out, your 60k will be worth much less and their $30k will be be what it was when it was 15k.

So the baseline for labor to produce items just raised 2 fold. Any cost associated with any goods or services from a labor standpoint just doubled.

Your "4 wages" just became less while their "1 wage" stays exactly the same.

quote:

---

ColeCoushCoush

---

You're understanding of economics is cute

quote:

---

and he's been successful at getting the kid with 4 cookies to become the enemy of the kid with one cookie.

---

Here's the problem with that. The kid with 10,000 cookies get's 3,000 of them taken, the kid with 4 cookies gets one of them taken, those cookies are then given to the kid with one cookie to make him feel better about his situation.

The reason it's difficult to feel for minimum wagers is because those "cookies" are used to provide housing, food and even free education and/or training so the kid with one cookie has a pathway to have 4 cookies.

If he chooses his corner with one cookie, there's no reason for sympathy.