Minimum Wage - the reality

A bunch of people are 'demonstrating' in New York City and Detroit advocating for an almost doubling of the minimum wage. From Associated Press:

Fast-food protesters cuffed at higher-pay rallies
Police handcuffed several protesters in New York and Detroit on Thursday as they blocked traffic in the latest attempt to escalate their efforts to get McDonald's, Burger King and other fast-food companies to pay their employees at least $15 an hour.

The protests, which are planned by labor organizers for about 150 cities nationwide throughout Thursday, are part of the "Fight for $15" campaign. Since the protests began in late 2012, organizers have switched up their tactics every few months.

Ahhh - the unions are in back of this. Could have figured. They want the steady supply of union dues to use to influence the political process in the US.

From both sides of the fence:

"There's a national movement going on made up of fast food workers organizing to lift wages so they can provide for their families with pride and dignity," Obama said, as he pushed Congress to raise the minimum wage. "If I were busting my butt in the service industry and wanted an honest day's pay for an honest day's work, I'd join a union."

The National Restaurant Association, on the other hand, said in a statement that the protests are an attempt by unions to "boost their dwindling membership." The industry lobbying group said it hopes organizers will be respectful to customers and workers during the protests.

And the core of the problem:

Prospero Sanchez, who was at the McDonald's in New York, said the $11.50 per hour he earns making pizzas at a Domino's Pizza restaurant is not enough to support him, his wife and two kids. He started working at the same restaurant 14 years ago, when he made $5 an hour.

I feel sorry for Mr. Sanchez but entry level jobs are just that - the first jobs you get in life. It is a matter of your own personal responsibility to continually improve yourself and make yourself worth more to a potential employer. Had Mr. Sanchez gone to night school, he could be bringing home $30/hour as a chef or machinist or welder or carpenter. Slinging pizzas is a horrible way to go through life.

And, a word to the unions - drive up the cost of doing business and it will be cost effective to bring in robots:

Momentum Machines
Fast food doesn’t have to have a negative connotation anymore. With our technology, a restaurant can offer gourmet quality burgers at fast food prices.

Our alpha machine frees up all of the hamburger line cooks in a restaurant.

It does everything employees can do except better:

    • it slices toppings like tomatoes and pickles immediately before it places the slice onto your burger, giving you the freshest burger possible.
    • our next revision will offer custom meat grinds for every single customer. Want a patty with 1/3 pork and 2/3 bison ground to order? No problem.
    • Also, our next revision will use gourmet cooking techniques never before used in a fast food restaurant, giving the patty the perfect char but keeping in all the juices.
    • it’s more consistent, more sanitary, and can produce ~360 hamburgers per hour.

The labor savings allow a restaurant to spend approximately twice as much on high quality ingredients and the gourmet cooking techniques make the ingredients taste that much better.

The stupid - it burns!!!

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This page contains a single entry by DaveH published on September 4, 2014 9:46 AM.

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