The answer to $15.00 Hour fast food restaurant wages

[ronandannette]

Twice I have gone to one our local Tim Horton's and ordered 18 muffins. No word of lie I was told they only came in packs of 6 and 12.

Yup fast food workers deserve to be paid a minimum of $15 an hour.

Don't you mean they deserve to be paid $10 and $5?

 

[IMissEd]

I feel like a select few are giving all of the FF workers a bad name. Instead of across the board $15/hr I think asking for a fair wage is a better choice. I live in the Southeastern US and work in the healthcare field. I can accurately say that in my area new graduate RNs make $18-20/hour, LPNs make $12-15/hr, and CNAs make $9-11/hr. I'm not sure what EMTs, paramedics, or police officers make, but I do know that many in our community were outraged when McDonalds employees (and their families) picketed outside of our local McDonalds this last week due to low wages and wanting to make $15/hour. Our minimum wage is $7.50/hr. We have a relatively low cost of living and people are outraged. I worked in FF while in college and I don't see what the problem with $7.50/hr is.

 

[Mom of a great kid]

I don't know anything about assembly line work, but I have to imagine there's a mental factor here. It's a trade off, and I think just kind of proves the point.

Mental factor? Are you saying that people who prepare food and deal with the public don't have to think? Try doing it yourself and you'll change your mind. Also, the person who said kiosks would have been installed anyway was absolutely correct. Anything big corporations can do to save a nickel, they will do.

 

[aaarcher86]

Mental factor? Are you saying that people who prepare food and deal with the public don't have to think? Try doing it yourself and you'll change your mind. Also, the person who said kiosks would have been installed anyway was absolutely correct. Anything big corporations can do to save a nickel, they will do.

Lol, no, but nice leap. I didn't even imply that.

Do I think that doing something that requires high level mathematics or engineering should be a factor in the "one stands and one doesn't" debate that should be factored in, yeah.

I work with the public. I'm not debating they're no treat, but to pretend like taking a fast food order and working a manufacturing line making cars (I think that was the analogy) are the same level mental work is just silly.

 

[kimblebee]

The snobbery on this thread is really gross. It's easy to tell who has never worked a customer service job...

 

[Mom of a great kid]

Lol, no, but nice leap. I didn't even imply that.

Do I think that doing something that requires high level mathematics or engineering should be a factor in the "one stands and one doesn't" debate that should be factored in, yeah.

I work with the public. I'm not debating they're no treat, but to pretend like taking a fast food order and working a manufacturing line making cars (I think that was the analogy) are the same level mental work is just silly.

So you didn't imply that they don't think, just that they don't think as much? Again, try it sometime and you'll change your mind.

 

[sunshinehighway]

Lol, no, but nice leap. I didn't even imply that.

Do I think that doing something that requires high level mathematics or engineering should be a factor in the "one stands and one doesn't" debate that should be factored in, yeah.

I work with the public. I'm not debating they're no treat, but to pretend like taking a fast food order and working a manufacturing line making cars (I think that was the analogy) are the same level mental work is just silly.

That's not what I took from Gumbos original post you quoted. I took it as working in something like fast food has its own challenges ( like dealing with customers). It seems easy for people to dismiss ff workers but somehow other jobs that really don't require great skill are given much more respect.

 

[aaarcher86]

That's not what I took from Gumbos original post you quoted. I took it as working in something like fast food has its own challenges ( like dealing with customers). It seems easy for people to dismiss ff workers but somehow other jobs that really don't require great skill are given much more respect.

I agree it has it's own challenges, and I have no idea what a line worker for cars does or what kind of education it requires. When I think of it, it's nothing like Gumbo described.

But if it takes the same level of skill for more pay and less hard labor I don't see why it wouldn't be more desirable.

 

[aaarcher86]

So you didn't imply that they don't think, just that they don't think as much? Again, try it sometime and you'll change your mind.

If you think that basic fast food jobs and the other jobs I mentioned take the same amount of mental labor, well...

 

[aaarcher86]

The snobbery on this thread is really gross. It's easy to tell who has never worked a customer service job...

I can't think of a single person I know that hasn't worked in customer service at some point. Everyone starts from the bottom, has a first job, or even a crap job just to pay the bills.

It still doesn't make us agree.

 

[vanellopevs]

I don't think anybody thinks fastfood workers should make more than policeman, EMTs, etc. $15/hr is a low wage. It should be the bare minimum anybody makes. Policemen, etc should make much more than that. Prices should not go up. If the minimum wage had kept up with productivity it would be $22/hr.

The problem is that the people at the top take too much for themselves. They need to take a pay cut so that everyone else can make what they should. Of course that won't happen unless the government makes it happen and I'm not holding my breath.

The income inequality in this country is a disgrace.

 

[Kitty 34]

I should have been born a robot!

 

[Mom of a great kid]

The snobbery on this thread is really gross. It's easy to tell who has never worked a customer service job...

If you think that basic fast food jobs and the other jobs I mentioned take the same mental amount of mental labor, well...

View attachment 162717

 

[Mom of a great kid]

Another misconception is that higher wages dictate the price of the finished product. They do not. A major point made when I studied marketing was that a product should be priced according to what the market will bear. Executives know this. They know they cannot simply raise prices to offset increased wages. Those wage increases will decrease profits, which is why they fight so hard against them.

 

[aaarcher86]

 

[nj disney family]

So everyone should just accept what they "deserve" and be happy about it. I have no problem with any worker trying to make a better living. If the jobs that are more "important" than fast food worker feel they should be compensated better, they should demand that, not complain about people who are. And I would support them also.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I don't know anything about assembly line work, but I have to imagine there's a mental factor here. It's a trade off, and I think just kind of proves the point.

Depends on the assembly line. A modern UAW auto assembly plant is pure gravy. I know dozens of guys who do this kind of work and to a man, they ALL swear they don't know anyone who couldn't do their jobs - also that by the end of the first day, you'll be as good as you'll ever need to be. Moreover, the MOST difficult jobs (relatively speaking) are given to new hires.

Now, 30-40 years ago, there was a LOT of hard work required in such a plant. But, it's all power tools & robotics now.

 

[Christine]

Someone said this upthread, but I firmly believe that if minimum wage kept up with inflation, we wouldn't really need this discussions or arbitrary amounts. It should have just crept up with inflation. In 1980, I was making $3.75 an hour as a high school student. I actually made enough in my part time job to pay something toward college and have spending money, without putting in more than 20 hours a week. Dollar doesn't go as far today. In order for a minimum wage worker today to feel as comfortable as I did in 1980 on my minimum wage, they would have to make $10.84. In my state, it is $7.25.

 

[manning]

Yep, like the price of everything going up, so the employers can still make a profit. . They make $15 an hour, the price of a Big Mac goes up to $7.50 for profit.
People like DH get screwed because they don't raise the middle class wages to compensate for the rise in cost of living. So, we can no longer afford to go buy that Big Mac.
Less hours available, which means smaller work schedules or less employees. Those who were fighting for that wage hike now have to work 2 or 3 jobs again, or keep getting public assistance, because there aren't enough hours for F/T, or the employer refuses to put anyone on F/T to avoid the insurance and OT issues.
And I won't even go into the people that really don't want to work, but only do so for short periods of time so that they can keep those benefits which pay out more; they take the place of people that truly want to work, cost time and money to train, and then they quit or doing things to get fired as soon as they can.

All raising the wage to $15 does is screw everyone who doesn't work in the those jobs.

FTR: I worked at McDonalds. I worked there in high school, making minimum wage for the first 2 months. Then I got a raise because I busted my behind. I would go in at 5am, make the biscuits for the day(if this tells you how long ago it was, the biscuits were still made from a mix, rolled and hand cut, then baked. Nowadays, they are frozen/prebaked and just reheated). Then I'd go to school, come back after school and do my homework there. Start back to work about 5 and work until 8 or 9. I was working about 30 hours a week.

Then after things happened, I went back to working there...for 6 years. Started again as crew, and worked my way up into management. I supported two kids and myself working at McD's. DD#1's first dad was beyond useless, so no help there. DD#2's dad (my husband...we weren't married when we had her) was working entry level job in his chosen career, and wasn't making what I was as a manager. He covered her insurance (better than mine) and daycare (which my sister did, and only charged me $50 a week for both kids, plus all their meals, yes, she was helping us). Those skills I learned there helped me get a management job at Chipotle, and from there to Johnny Rockets, and on and on.

Unless you are in management, fast food jobs are not meant to be a career. They aren't meant for moms of 3 to support their kids on. They are meant for kids who are first starting out, to learn how to function in a workplace, earn a little money to pay for movies and girlfriends.
ETA: You want to make more money, either bust your behind and get moved up in your workplace, or go get a degree. Stomping your feet and shouting that you are worth more doesn't show that you are.

If you think about it that's automation. Now those biscuits come off an assembly line.

 

[Mom of a great kid]

If you think about it that's automation. Now those biscuits come off an assembly line.

Someone said this upthread, but I firmly believe that if minimum wage kept up with inflation, we wouldn't really need this discussions or arbitrary amounts. It should have just crept up with inflation. In 1980, I was making $3.75 an hour as a high school student. I actually made enough in my part time job to pay something toward college and have spending money, without putting in more than 20 hours a week. Dollar doesn't go as far today. In order for a minimum wage worker today to feel as comfortable as I did in 1980 on my minimum wage, they would have to make $10.84. In my state, it is $7.25.