One thing we've all been indoctrinated into accepting is the fact that someone who probably has more education deserves to get paid better than someone who probably dropped out of high school. It doesn't work that way all the time. The payment structure is based on the principle of supply and demand. If there were few people willing to flip burgers then the few who'd take the job would be paid more. Low wage earners deserve better pay. If someone is earning good cash doing another job, they shouldn't say that low wage earners don't deserve to earn more. They [the low wage earners] may have made mistakes earlier in life but that doesn't mean we should make them pay for those mistakes until they die.
Raising the minimum wage is a start. I think that a person who works a full time job should be able to afford their most basic needs- a modest rent, electricity, phone, a vehicle, food, etc. Otherwise, it is just wage slavery. This is not just a problem for the poor. My partner has a college degree, and has no disposable income after those needs and student loans are paid. It is not the poor who are stealing from the middle class. It's the filthy rich who are relegating every rung below them on the socioeconomic ladder to poverty.
I believe that McDonald and Walmart have a good point asking for an increase in salary due to it not being suffecient enough to maintain a standard way of living. If an individual is not capable of getting a job or career that suits his or her way of living why should they be punished financially just because that is the only job they are able to get at this time? McDonals and Walmart a produce a large amount of money litterally every second that their business is open. So they are more than obligated to meet and succeed the requests from their employees. Without their employees they would not be able to run their business nor meet the needs of those customers who shop there on a daily basis. If they are argument is $15 bucks an hour exceeds the standard way of living, then it needs to be figured out to how much exactly will meet the needs of employees having a standard living. Because I definately know i=that $9 bucks an hour is not going to cut it.
It's the huge companies that have caused the problem. We still have an old-fashioned belief that if you work hard you can rise above circumstances and work your way up the corporate ladder. That's how it worked with smaller companies. Now, small businesses have trouble competing with multi-national conglomerates and can't pay their employees living wages. And, most corporations cap out how far a person can rise without a college degree. Even for those with a degree, starting salaries are low and barely cover the cost of living with student loan payments factored in. Protest alone doesn't solve problems, but it does often call attention to injustice so people make better choices in voting.
I don't understand why these companies have a problem with paying their employees the raise they want. I agree that these companies make enough money and can afford to pay the wage increase. It's a shame that the companies don't care enough about tbeir workers to give them more money so they could afford to live decent lives. They might end up losing good employees because they will have to get jobs that pay more money.
I worked at McDonald's for a few years during college. It's a honest job, but I'm not sure I could rationalize someone being paid $15.00 an hour for the work they perform. It's a minimum wage job because it requires minimum skill. The majority of those that worked at my location were in high school, college, worked there as a second job, or they did not go to school. I worked my way up fairly quick and when I left I was a shift manager which is the third highest position there: Store Manager, Assistant Manager(s), Shift Managers, Crew Chief, Crew Trainer, and Crew. I barely make over $10.00 an hour when I left, so I don't think that a crew member should make $15.00 an hour. Working in fast food doesn't require much skill. I worked with people that could barely take orders, make food, or interact with customers. If you move up the rank then you should be paid more for your skills, but not if you simply stay at the lowest position. Also, if they do raise the wage it will have too much of a negative impact. If the wage rises then the prices will rise to offset the increase. Customers hate it when prices are increased, and because of that they will go somewhere else to eat. It all has an impact. I believe that everyone should be paid a fair wage, but there are limits. The minimum wage is $7.25 in PA, and McDonald's starts paying at $7.50 or more, depending on what shifts and positions you are hired for. I agree that something needs to change, but it needs to be gradual so it doesn't have a negative impact.
I think it's a tough situation all around...it's unfortunate that a lot of them are getting paid so little for the long hours that they often put in, and certainly "poverty pay" isn't something we should be striving to support- but on the other hand, $15 an hour? It seems like that's asking too much for a lot of those jobs. And if we're saying that those jobs deserve that much an hour, than the pay for other jobs should logically go up as well, the cost of living in general would likely reflect the change, the prices at those places would as well...and it would be just as bad of a situation all around. I'm not an expert by any means, but I just don't see an easy answer to the problem that would satisfy everyone involved.
Minimum Wage advocates who wish to raise the pay rate, are a bunch of arrogant and ignorant pricks, who do not understand the macro-economics behind their complaints! Every time minimum wage is raised, everything else in a nation's economy raises in pricing, because such a concept has been agreed to be made into Law by the masses as the lowest limit for compensation. This pressures employers to pay their workers more for doing the same work and thus charging more for their products and services, which in-turn repeats the crazy scenario every few years and truly provided a fix but no solution at all! The solution, is when people know and are willing to know their own value, what he/she willing to negotiate for doing work with the employer, and figure a simple contract; all this Legal nonsense, is what has been stifling simple contracts between two people willing to do business with each other, without all manifold paperwork and Legalities. Both employer and future employee, need to reserve their fears more and not trust in paper descriptions [background checks, resumes, degrees, etc.] too much, when deciding how much a person should be compensated for, because most people are not adept to what he/she describes, and should be paid what they're being paid or possibly less. Some people, who work harder and more, deserve a higher compensation but never get the recognition. So, ultimately, in this business world humans have created for ourselves, simplicity is the key to fixing this compensation issue called minimum wage, because more Legalities will not solve the problem. One last important thing I wish to comment is this: people should be glad they are compensated for their work in the U.S.A. with the current minimum wage, because elsewhere in U.S.A. and other places around the planet, people are working for free or are slaves! Truly, I feel sorry for the "interns" who work their asses off and don't even get paid to do it!
A living wage? $10, 15, 20 an hour? I remember when people could live on far less. What has caused a "living wage " to become so mercurial? Could it be that it's a result of government interference in private enterprise? If the minimum wage goes up, who absorbs the cost? Government? No not government. Government has no money of its own because it doesn't produce anything. It must be the businesses that absorb the costs. So then what is the next step in this parade? Prices go up and we have rampant inflation. Suddenly a living wage is much higher, with the end nowhere in sight. Bottom line, are MOST fast food workers you know worth $10-20 an hour? The ones who are, already were. The ones who aren't already, never will be!
Got to agree with this - £9+ per hour at a fast food joint is a really good wage here. I'd work at Maccy D's like a shot if they were offering me that rate!
That will never happen. There's always someone who is willing to work for less than the people who are on strike. I think that may even be the issue with all the immigrants coming into the country. After all the bad publicity Wal-mart for low wages they still have a full schedule of people. When you have a family and no options, the current minimum wage is a lot better than nothing. The only way the emplyees are going to making enough money to survive is if the businesses we forced to.
Minimum wage should not be across the board, it is hard for someone with great responsibility to survive from minimum wage. It can barely cover the bills in the house to even extend to other personal means. I think people should be paid those wages based on years for experience and age. It is very hard in this economic time to manage all bills based on minimum wage.
As someone who has just gotten out of a fast food, minimum wage job, I completely understand why there are so many people who are in a rut about this issue. It is increasingly difficult to live off of minimum wage, especially if you are someone who has the intention to work and make an honest living.
I can't do it. Even when I was single and lived alone, there was no such thing as "frugal enough". The number of hours I had to work JUST to make bills was ridiculous. I was so tired after work because of my screwed up schedule that I actually ran my car off the road!! And all just so I could pay rent.
The real minimum wage is zero. As in being unemployed or not having a job. Its not like folks who work in low income jobs are always going to be stuck there. There are ways for you to make a better salary. If businesses actually followed through on the $15 per hour non sense you would see layoffs, business closings, hours cut, and a dramatic increase in costs of products.
