NYC Fast Food Workers Go On Strike to Protest Low Wages

[spacejamz]

http://inplainsight.nbcnews.com/_ne...s-strike-citing-low-wages-its-not-enough?lite

These workers took fast food jobs and are now going on strike because they don't make enough to support their families? Did they really think they could support their families by working in a fast food joint?

I wonder if these workers even considered their financial situation (current and future) before their kids were conceived?

 

[SheHateMe]

$7.25......

That's what I made as a freshman in college just trying to get money do laundry.

I don't think they should be askin' for $15 an hour because they didn't earn that...but goddamn, give these people a chance to earn a decent wage if they worked hard for it.

At 40 hours a week making $7.25...that isn't even enough to pay two bills and buy food.





SHM

 

[CPA]

$7.25......

...but goddamn, give these people a chance to earn a decent wage if they worked hard for it.
SHM

Who's responsibility is that?

 

[SheHateMe]

Who's responsibility is that?

If a company values their employees, then they will reward them for their hard work.

I just got a raise last week for my hard work...how come these people can't get a raise if they've earned it?

I don't get paying people the bare minimum and not rewarding them for their hard work.

 

[Oyeve]

I have no pity. These are idiots. I have yet to see any reason to pay them more than minimum wage. I was a cashier in HS in the early eighties and I had to enter the amount manually, figure out the change using my brain. They punch an automatic button or have a scanner. I got paid $3.10 an hour and didnt complain. Yeah, I was working in HS and now I make a hell of a lot more but im sorry, 15 bucks an hour to push a button and most of these workers are freaking idiots who can't even form a proper sentence. Striking? assholes.

 

[BoberFett]

If a company values their employees, then they will reward them for their hard work.

I just got a raise last week for my hard work...how come these people can't get a raise if they've earned it?

I don't get paying people the bare minimum and not rewarding them for their hard work.

They do value their employees. They value them at $7.25/hr. The job isn't worth more than that.

People need to realize that they are not their job. They may be worth more than $7.25/hr, but the job is not. If they're worth more than that, they need to prove it and go find someone who is willing to pay them what they are worth.

Companies will not pay more than a job is worth, that's just smart business.

 

[Oyeve]

I would pay the guy mopping the floor more than minimum wage. That person is actually working. Unlike the button pushers and burger flippers.

 

[child of wonder]

They do value their employees. They value them at $7.25/hr. The job isn't worth more than that.

People need to realize that they are not their job. They may be worth more than $7.25/hr, but the job is not. If they're worth more than that, they need to prove it and go find someone who is willing to pay them what they are worth.

Companies will not pay more than a job is worth, that's just smart business.

This.

My sister complains frequently about her pay and I keep telling her "you're only worth $XX per hour. You have a poor work history, a GED, and minimal experience outside of phone customer service. Want more money? Make yourself more valuable by doing more for your current employer or learning new skills."

 

[Svnla]

Who's responsibility is that?

But..but..but...how dare you sir to ask them poor folks to better themselves by education and trade skill? It is NOT their fault, it is da govurnment/da system/........they must be paid more just because...

<tongue in cheek..sarcastic>

 

[1prophet]

I have no pity. These are idiots. I have yet to see any reason to pay them more than minimum wage. I was a cashier in HS in the early eighties and I had to enter the amount manually, figure out the change using my brain. They punch an automatic button or have a scanner. I got paid $3.10 an hour and didnt complain. Yeah, I was working in HS and now I make a hell of a lot more but im sorry, 15 bucks an hour to push a button and most of these workers are freaking idiots who can't even form a proper sentence. Striking? assholes.

But what if they are required to have a college degree, surely they should make more.:biggrin:
http://news.yahoo.com/wanted-mcdonalds-cashiers-college-degrees-204344742.html
Wanted: McDonald's Cashiers ... With College Degrees

When it comes to getting a job, college degrees aren't what they used to be. Perhaps the most glaring proof of that comes from a job opening at a Winchendon Mass., McDonald's, which is requiring applicants to have one or two years' worth of experience and a bachelor's degree for a cashier position.

That instance not only serves as a reminder to the general challenges of finding a job in this economy, but more specifically to the challenges of the job market for recent college graduates, new research has found.

As a result of those economic challenges, college graduates are being forced to take jobs that do not utilize their skill sets completely. In turn, this is causing a high degree of turnover among recent graduates who are taking those jobs. Because of this, researchers say there is a glut of college graduates looking for jobs that utilize their skills.

Not surprisingly, researchers found that many of those workers are not satisfied in their jobs for a number of reasons. The most common complaints from graduates were poor job security, poor pay and job content. To help the growing problem, a new report suggests people may want to rethink the model of higher education, particularly since access to higher education has increased in recent years while the number of jobs for those workers has not.

[What's Keeping Graduates from Finding Jobs?]
"Generally, the findings challenge the equating of job quality with wages at the economic policymaking level, and the high-skills, high-wages agenda, which has been prominent in the U.K.," said Belgin Okay-Somerville from the University of Aberdeen, who conducted the research with Dora Scholarios from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. "Acceptance of intermediately skilled jobs as 'graduate occupations' without interventions designed to make better use of graduates' skills may result in 'good jobs going bad' in the graduate labor market."

The research was based on a sample of more than 7,000 employees in the United Kingdom and was published in the journal Human Relations.

 

[Fern]

The workers aren&#8217;t in a fight with management,&#8221; he said, &#8220;they&#8217;re in a fight with technology.&#8221; At some point, he said, &#8220;the cost of service is going to get trumped by the customers&#8217; demand for lower prices,&#8221; and people will be replaced by less expensive machines, like a burger-making robot being marketed by a San Francisco company.

I think there is some truth to the above.

I'm kind of surprised we haven't yet seen a 'self-order, self-pay' system at fast food stores. A touch screen monitor with the menu and a credit card swipe can replace many who work at the register.

Assembling the burgers (putting meat patty and lettuce etc on a bun) and serving portions are about the only thing not already automated in some fashion at places.

---------------

I don't think the strike will have much affect on people heading out to lunch in NYC. Too many pizza places and cart vendors to pick of the slack. I lived in Manhattan for a year and don't think I ever went to a McDonalds etc. Too many good places for a slice of pizza or calzone etc for a quick lunch.

Fern

 

[almightyobo]

They do value their employees. They value them at $7.25/hr. The job isn't worth more than that.

People need to realize that they are not their job. They may be worth more than $7.25/hr, but the job is not. If they're worth more than that, they need to prove it and go find someone who is willing to pay them what they are worth.

Companies will not pay more than a job is worth, that's just smart business.

simply this

 

[BoberFett]

This.

My sister complains frequently about her pay and I keep telling her "you're only worth $XX per hour. You have a poor work history, a GED, and minimal experience outside of phone customer service. Want more money? Make yourself more valuable by doing more for your current employer or learning new skills."

That's not exactly what I said. A person in a job may be worth much more than what they're paid, unfortunately the reality is that a company can't pay people what they are worth, they can only pay what the job is worth. The value of a job is dictated by the market. If a company can afford to and chooses to pay more than a job is worth in order to retain highly qualified individuals, more power to them. Not all companies can or want to do that. Fast food jobs however are low skilled, high churn jobs.

 

[superccs]

These jobs are for kids, not parents. Screw them and bar tenders and waiters and waitresses, they are all temporary work or part time jobs NOT CAREERS.

 

[fskimospy]

Meh, they are trying to alter the marketplace dynamic to get paid more for their jobs. Nothing wrong with that, they are free to try.

The rage against unionization on here always interests me, it reminds me a quote from Madeline Albright's where she was marveling at how some people when they saw their neighbor had a goat, they would want one for themselves. Other people upon seeing the same thing would wish that their neighbors' goat would die.

 

[child of wonder]

That's not exactly what I said. A person in a job may be worth much more than what they're paid, unfortunately the reality is that a company can't pay people what they are worth, they can only pay what the job is worth. The value of a job is dictated by the market. If a company can afford to and chooses to pay more than a job is worth in order to retain highly qualified individuals, more power to them. Not all companies can or want to do that. Fast food jobs however are low skilled, high churn jobs.

Yes, true.

 

[umbrella39]

I feel they should be able to strike if they wish and be willing to be replaced by others don't mind making $7 an hour. It's not the fast food joints fault that so many people lost good paying jobs and are now willing to flip burgers instead of collecting an unemployment check or have exhausted unemployment and are willing take any work they can get. They cannot expect the pay to suddenly rise to meet their occasion...

 

[Doppel]

No sympathy for anybody bitching about money who lives in NYC. Get TF out if it sucks and stop pretending it doesn't.

 

[Juror No. 8]

The rage against unionization on here always interests me, it reminds me a quote from Madeline Albright's where she was marveling at how some people when they saw their neighbor had a goat, they would want one for themselves. Other people upon seeing the same thing would wish that their neighbors' goat would die.

You have no problem with employees colluding to fix the price of their pay, but I bet you'd scream bloody murder if corporations colluded to fix the price of their goods and services.

 

[CrackRabbit]

I think there is some truth to the above.

I'm kind of surprised we haven't yet seen a 'self-order, self-pay' system at fast food stores. A touch screen monitor with the menu and a credit card swipe can replace many who work at the register.

Fern

They have those at several places here in the West Coast for a few years now, with Jack in the Box being the most prominent customer.

I actually prefer using them to ordering with a human as I can customize my sandwich with less chance of it being screwed up.

http://www.brandeating.com/2010/07/review-jack-in-box-self-service-kiosk.html

 

[marincounty]

I think Switzerland pays McD's workers $15 per hour. Of course burgers are more expensive there. Americans are cheap bastards though, they would rather fast food workers live in cars than pay an extra buck for a big Mac.

 

[OverVolt]

It makes sense they would strike. Workers as a group overall have been losing power, so they try to regain some if it.

I'm glad I'm not in that situation but more and more people these days find themselves in that situation because of less opportunities since '08. Everyone thinks the economy is going to keep trucking along like it is right now currently but this is actually a transition phase.

 

[zinfamous]

If a company values their employees, then they will reward them for their hard work.

I just got a raise last week for my hard work...how come these people can't get a raise if they've earned it?

I don't get paying people the bare minimum and not rewarding them for their hard work.

McDonald's can never afford their 0.99 menu by paying these uneducated, unskilled workers more than they deserve.

Then who gets mad? the fatties of the US, that's who!

actually, either way this turns out, it could be a great thing:

--workers on strike, no more cheap shitty food for fatties!
--double their wages, increase menu prices by 75%, too expensive for fatties! McD's folds! that shit would be amazing.


I hope they go on strike and achieve their goals.

 

[nextJin]

I think Switzerland pays McD's workers $15 per hour. Of course burgers are more expensive there. Americans are cheap bastards though, they would rather fast food workers live in cars than pay an extra buck for a big Mac.

Big Macs are already too goddamn expensive, they need to bring back the 2 for 2 BigMac deal. I don't care about these people, that job is there for high schoolers. If these outstanding citizens don't care about bettering their lives why the hell should anyone else?

If I was working at a McDonalds at 40 (hell even 25) I would be ashamed of myself. McDonalds has outstanding opportunities for those who want to move up in the chain. A mutual friend has a GED and is a manager at 26...

Maybe I was just raised to actually have a little self worth and want to better myself and provide for my family but that seems to be a quickly diminishing ideology in this country.

EDIT: And yes I worked at a McDonalds, a Mrs Winners (Southern Fried Chicken Chain), and a Hardee's. Then I graduated High School and moved on.

 

[HomerJS]

job market in NYC must be pretty shitty. Most entry level jobs in PA pay 8.25-8.75 still not much better.