Supersize My .......

I fully support a higher minimum wage tied to cost of living. Workers in expensive regions should be making $15 an hour, otherwise they just utilize taxed payed services. I'd rather stop subsidizing billion dollar companies with public money. In fact, I don't shop at Walmart for this very reason.

If you look at wages, they have been stagnant for everyone but the executive level. For those folks? They've gone up 400% over the same period of time. It's time for those rich guys to play nicely. As of right now, they aren't playing nice, and they are forcing the government to pick up the bill. Luckily, some companies in California are trying to be better members of a society. Hopefully this will start a trend where companies recognize that if they don't play nice, they lose customers. So please stop shopping at companies that rely on public aid to supplement most of their workers.

I have not heard about this...it is summer...I am playing with the kids and not watching or listening to the news. But it intrigues me so I will weigh in. They do NOT have my support at all!!

I personally have never thought of McDonald's or any other fast food joint as a job for an adult. Unless you are working in management. Fast food jobs are intended as part time work or summer work for teenagers...not a career opportunity for flipping burgers your whole life. I am grateful for burger flippers, we need them. But they are not meant to stay in that job their entire life. I am tired of people complaining instead of using that energy,passion and voice to empower THEMSELF to rise above their current status. There are so many programs,grants,scholarships and loans out there to help low income persons to get ahead in society.

I feel that instead of forcing the company to pay a higher wage, maybe the employee should get their butt in school to get a job that really uses their intellect and creativity so they can make a higher wage. I do NOT believe everyone should go to a 4 year college but there are trade schools that teach meaningful trades that offer a higher standard of living.

If I can't afford the cost of living then we would move somewhere else. Many people do that...they make their money work for them. I have seen many flee my beautiful state of California...it is downright outrageous here. But, I am not complaining. My family chooses to live here and pay the higher prices for everything...it is our choice. There are a host of other states where we could get more bang for our buck so if we don't like it here there are other places we can go. That is how I look at a job. We have an free society...a free market.

A $15.00 hour wage will ONLY benefit the employee. I don't forsee a dramatic change in the employee's productivity or a tremendous value added to the product itself. The happy meal will stay the same happy meal...same tiny fries and salt ridden food with a plastic toy. (don't get me wrong..I love me some greasy,salty McDonald's fries) But there is no benefit to the customer or the employer if they raise the wage to $15.00.

I could be wrong..I am quite rusty...it has been a long time since sitting through many macro/micro economics courses at University.

If I were a burger pusher...I would re think my career potential and look into a trade that I enjoy and work towards pulling myself up out of poverty. Not complain about the wage and cost of living and that I "deserve" a huge pay raise.

When my husband sits through interviews where people are asking him for a pay raise he asks them, "What value are you adding to this company that justifies us paying you more?" Sometimes they can give a very informative and fact based analysis of their performance. Most often that is not the case. They want to keep doing the same work yet get paid more. It is actually those that bust their butt, ask the employer how can I do my job better and then do it that get noticed and bumped up in pay and promoted to better positions.

Sooo, there are my ramblings. I get frustrated that people are whining about more pay...when all they are doing is putting forth the same minimal effort in their job nor looking for a way to better themselves. It all turns on the "big business", "evil corporation", "money grubbing capitalists" not wanting to part with some pocket change to help the employee.

I too think that some drug testing might get rid of these yahoos...well stated Flaming Turnip. :)

Its all a matter of the law of supply and demand.

In North Dakota McD does pay $15 per hour for people to work there. Why? Because of the oil boom. Its so easy to get a job with the oil companies or the oil service companies that no one would work at McD or any place else like that when they can work at an oil field job for $20+ per hour so McD pays more.

Everyone works for the minimum wage from the neck down. Its from the neck up that makes the difference. I knew an orthopedic surgeon that made $5000 per hour. I know a pharmacist that makes $65 hr and a trash truck operator that makes $15 hr. The difference is the education (from the neck up so to speak). Both the surgeon and the pharmacist could drive the trash truck and make $15 hr, but I wouldn't trust the trash truck operator to fill my prescription or operate on my feet.

If the people are tired of making minimum wage and want to make more money bad enough, they will get an education and develop skills that are worth more.

Good luck to you and yours.

Whatever the market will bear is what the wages should be. It should be up to the companies what to pay their employees. If they can't keep employees because they don't pay enough, the wages will increase or they will close their doors.
I applaud Walmart for not cow-towing to DC. They lost a bunch of jobs that may not have paid as much as the DC council wanted, but at least they would have paid and employed people. So now - there are no new jobs. Who really loses? Think about it.
For people to say they don't like how a company pays their employees and refuse to shop there only hurts the employees. If the sales aren't there, the store closes, and those people are out of work...
So - who really loses?

When I look at the cost of housing in New York or California I tend to have culture shock!

A simple apartment in those places goes for $1500-$2000 per month. That same apartment here in Oklahoma might rent for $500-$600 per month. It's hard to explain that to someone who can barely make enough to live on their own in Oklahoma that if they moved to NY or California they'd be living on the streets due to not making enough to have half of what they have here.

It's hard to comprehend. I just try to remember that those people are making that much per hour because they have to be paid more because the economy is different there. There is no comparison.

One thing that might make a difference is comparing the cost of living and what it's like in other places that have McDonald's in their country.

We don't take 99% of our factory's overseas because they have pretty trees and ocean views. We take them over there because they work for pennies per day. They don't even get minimum wages they get a quarter or half dollar per hour and thing they're rich because they can buy some of the luxury's that we have over here.

It equals out. Tell them that if they get that kind of a raise you'll be really glad for them because land owners will finally be able to double their rent on all the rental property, the city will be able to double their charges for electricity and natural gas, gasoline can go up to $8 per gallon or more....there's a lot more that could be listed here...

Let them know that if they get that much of a raise then everything around them will double. It won't be money they get to do anything with, they'll just have higher bills and higher taxes.

DC just scared big box stores (Wal-Mart, Target, etc) into building new stores in the region because of the high minimum wage they are forcing them to pay the workers. That means inflation and it hurts everyone.

I think if people want to make more than minimum wage, they should go learn a skill that will allow them to do more than push a Big Mac button on a screen. Yes, there are higher paying positions within stores where people make minimum wage, however, the bulk of them are uneducated, or too young to have the proper education to get a higher paying job.

Either way - GO TO SCHOOL.

Re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic . . .

:(

The problem is that 90% of the workers are temporary. They are high school and other kids just entering the job market with zero skills. So these jobs - the vast majority - weren't ever intended to to be a living wage. These are jobs for kids to save up for their first car.

I'm fine with minimum wage being automatically adjusted for inflation.

BTW - I didn't make up the 90% figure - there's an article I read recently which discussed this very topic and made the above point.

Hahahahaha... If I could make $15 an hour working at a fast food joint... Well, I would have been a lot happier about having to apply at Subway last night. One can dream...

Ugh.

I'm sorry, but "living wage" and minimum wage are not (or at least shouldn't be) interchangeable. The vast majority of these types of jobs (fast food cashiers/burger flippers, not the management) are NOT people supporting a family. They are kids who are not supporting themselves, but supporting their smartphone data plan or the car they are saving up for, or movie date night with their girl/boyfriend, or clothes Mom & Dad won't pay thru the nose for b/c they want the name brand stuff that costs twice as much as everything else.

That doesn't mean that there are NO people in those jobs who aren't supporting a family, but traditionally, these are short term jobs. Either the worker moves up and on (into junior management or higher) or leaves entirely when they go off to college or into a 40 hour per week job doing some sort of technical skilled job (welding, or auto repair or air conditioning, or being a support person in an office job of some sort, etc). People who stay flipping hamburgers and ringing them up long term really must not be trying very hard to improve their situation, outside of just showing up for that job.

I worked one of those jobs when I was in high school. For about a year. Then I moved on to another job (department store type job), then on to a desk job, and assisting in a chiropractor's office, and on and on... while going to college. All were part time jobs. The only one I stayed at minimum wage on was fast food... and that increased after the first 30 days on the job. Of course, minimum wage back then was about 3.15 an hour.
--
oh, and I only remember ONE person who worked there who was long term full time that was not some type of management. And she liked the job and hours (she was the morning person who came in at 5:00 a.m. to bake biscuits), and she did NOT make minimum wage.

Austin, TX keeps talking about making the "minimum wage" the "living wage".... currently about $11 an hour according to articles....

Living wage makes sense... but unfortunately, it is a vicious cycle.... businesses are required to pay more, thus raising costs, and then the "living wage" continues to go up..... where does it end?

We live just north of Austin.

http://scienceblogs.com/thepumphandle/2012/12/14/construc...

100% of these workers do not live in Manhattan - it's too expensive even if you are making 15.00 an hour. They all live in outer Burroughs where, although not cheap, significantly less than Manhattan.

When you are making 7.50 and hour, a dollar raise is a very good percentage. An $8 raise is ridiculous. Even if there were a union, they would not make that much of a jump.

Someone who works in a fast food establishment and works up the ranks is a VERY employable person. Managers make very good money and are usually not educated. So don't think there is not a world of opportunity to be had at McDonald's. It's like everything else - it's what you make of it.

I can still clearly remember the lesson in high school economics class about what happens when you raise the minimum wage...inflation.

If they pay their workers more then they have to charge more to make the same profits...then the cost to consumers go up (and the workers are consumers...so even though they make more money it doesn't go further).

But it does make sense to me that minimum wage should reflect the cost of living in an area...$15 an hour here in SA was what I was making out of college with a Master's degree at my first job. (well, $16...but pretty close). I was salaried and had to work overtime with no extra pay.

So fifteen an hour to work fast food...seems high here but not for NYC.

It's hard to go to school to get a better job when you're working two full time jobs to feed your family.

First what you are saying is not true. There are several fast food places that pay a living wage white castle and starbucks and they are not losing any thing and profits are high. Second they do have support. Because most of the people that are working now are not kids, there adults with families. Yes I know what an $8 raise will buy and its not much. These people are not working 40 hour week they barely get 30 hours. So before you rant and rave get yourfacts straight

Do people in low cost states deserve $15 for fast food jobs? I'm actually not opposed to it except for that it would squeeze out the workers who can't compete for good jobs and really need the fast food jobs like the disabled, the uneducated, the above 50 set, the newer immigrants and the non-attractive, because suddenly all the gung-ho, driven, healthy young American college students would be clamoring for the fast food jobs.

But getting away from extremes, minimum wage does need to be much higher in all states in proportion to costs of living. When families are uninsured and not making ends meet while working TWO almost full time jobs (almost full time because these companies keep them at hours just below full time to keep them uninsured so many are working two jobs) all of us pay for it because the working poor are forced onto government aid. Also, many of these workers are older with poor health and aren't cut out to work 79 hours a week for an unlivable wage-again, getting government aid and not paying taxes because they are so far below the poverty line. Not to mention everyone hates them because they're unable to spend any time with their kids so the kids grow up in the cycle of poverty blah blah.

The economy benefits when working people can afford to live. These people can't even afford bare bones utilities by a long shot as illustrated by McDonald's last ridiculous exposed employee budget. Doubling the minimum wage doesn't sound outrageous to me. It's kind of hard to listen to massive annual company profit reports-going up just fine with the costs of living- and then how it's impossible to pay employees more than the ludicrous minimum legal wage. If businesses can only stay afloat by keeping employees completely shafted, then some new business models need to happen and some old doors need to close so new ones can open.

In Europe, waiters and food service workers are offended by tips because they make nice salaries. So do the garbage men. And the child care providers. And the administrative assistants. And many other people that American companies "can only pay minimum wage" to (or way less for servers). And they have healthy vacation times and adequate maternity leave and other social services. And they pay high taxes and they have health care and free higher education should they opt out of trade schools or military service. HOW do they do it? I don't know but I guess we need some lessons here.

I've had those jobs where one parking ticket while at work depletes your grocery money for an entire month, one car issue and you're in the hole and can't get to work, and you can NEVER go to the doctor or dentist and you only eat at work and you can't afford the laundromat. I did it when I was single and young with several roommates living in dangerous neighborhoods, but not while raising kids. And the minimum wage ratio now is worse than it was then.

To people thinking these are all frivolous temporary jobs for kids??! I don't know where you live, but if you look around anywhere in the USA that is only a small percent of the people in these jobs. Really open your eyes and look at the staff the next time you're in Wal Mart. Or you're having your room cleaned in a motel, or at the people cleaning any open business you see, or a million other jobs. Do a little research. Minimum wage jobs are not just for kids.

It's also hard to climb the corporate ladder with no education or experience when you can't even afford a day off to apply for another job-much less an interview outfit- without going homeless. I was able to rise out of minimum wage too. Because I was an educated, childless, healthy person from a good background. But there aren't enough ladders and high-paying jobs for everyone. We will always need the lower labor force and minimum wage needs to be livable. Yes, companies cut jobs when they have to raise wages, but that doesn't mean the problem doesn't need addressing.