15 dollars a hour?

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Large increases are redistribution of wealth (purchasing power) from those who make over the min wage and those that are at min. Increases are in order but should be slow and steady over time. At the most a quarter every quarter or $1 a year till we see the heavy inflation kick in.
 
Franchise fast food restaurants pay a percentage of gross sales to the parent company. If you increase their payroll by 50% and the place (BK, McDonald's, SubWay, Domino's, KFC....etc..) only has a 5-7% profit margin, its a very short time until the place goes bankrupt. Parent company doesn't care how you struggle to survive due to crazy overhead.

Dailyjobcuts.com for info on job loss across the USA.
 
3800 that chart is very helpful.
My parents made about 25 k a year when I was growing up
I was always working during the summers and doing odd jobs when I could,
The problem isn't the minimum wage it is the mindset that you should be able to support a family on a seasonal summer job
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Get ready for the $10 extra value meal at McDonalds.


There are many decent lunches available at $10 mark around here and they don't pay minimum wage. Maybe folks will start eating decent and likely healthier food instead of corporate garbage.
 
Originally Posted By: dareo
One thing can be done to increase wage growth. Get rid of employer paid taxes of all kinds. A 10 dollar employee costs 11 to 12 dollars to employ. People need to stand up for themselves and find better pay too. Ive never once settled for min wage in my 15 yrs working.

Employees also need to create value in order to be paid more.


Do you have employees? Depending on the state it generally costs between 30-50% additional of a full time employees pay. I.e: Emloyee $10/hr pay costs the emplyoyer $13-$15/hr
 
In California if you make less than $20/hr you are going to make up for the difference in financial aid anyway. Reduced fees for phone, electricity, food, rent, earned income credit and Christmas presents through charity. Theoretically we should raise the minimum wage enough to eliminate handouts and reduce taxes for the 53%ers. No one lowers taxes though so I have a hard time supporting the cause.
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27

A living wage for employees?
What a concept!
This is something all of us should support.
Ignore the comments from the nay-sayers who profit more from lower wages.
Most of us aren't unfortunate enough to rely upon a minimum wage job.
Let's pay that extra dime for a part to enable those lower on the food chain to make a decent living.


Like what was already stated, And will continue 'til this thread is gone (Shouldn't be long!)

Fast Food work is not there to make a decent living or support a family, It is for teenagers & folks ENTERING the workforce or supplementing their/spouses income. There are several higher paid positions outside of fast food that go unfilled because no one wants to WORK their way to a better life. Be it collage/trade school or apprenticeship.

NO ONE forces a minimum wage job onto anyone, The "Unfortunate" are right where they want to be.
 
To BTW: i do have one employee. Since i do all the payroll his total cost is 112% of his wage. But the point is the same either way. If i increase his pay it costs a lot to the business and he takes home about 76% of the gross payroll cost after his taxes.
 
The real question is what to do about too many people seeking to few jobs...

And how's that $40-$80k degree treating you lately?
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Get ready for the $10 extra value meal at McDonalds.


I see fast food as a treat, a once-in-a-while splurge when I'm craving something horrible for me. It's already expensive, for what it is, but at once/month or so, it's really not a big deal. For those who eat it more frequently, I hope that, should prices rise, they find a more substantial, healthier meal as a replacement.
 
Originally Posted By: clinebarger
Originally Posted By: fdcg27

A living wage for employees?
What a concept!
This is something all of us should support.
Ignore the comments from the nay-sayers who profit more from lower wages.
Most of us aren't unfortunate enough to rely upon a minimum wage job.
Let's pay that extra dime for a part to enable those lower on the food chain to make a decent living.


Like what was already stated, And will continue 'til this thread is gone (Shouldn't be long!)

Fast Food work is not there to make a decent living or support a family, It is for teenagers & folks ENTERING the workforce or supplementing their/spouses income. There are several higher paid positions outside of fast food that go unfilled because no one wants to WORK their way to a better life. Be it collage/trade school or apprenticeship.

NO ONE forces a minimum wage job onto anyone, The "Unfortunate" are right where they want to be.





That may be what you think but it's not the reality. I think a large percentage of fast food workers are there as a regular job because they can't get anything better.

Also while pay may go up 50%, it doesn't follow that prices have to go up 50%. Labor costs are just one factor that goes into the price, there's also overhead, cost of products and profits. Maybe they'll have to put up with smaller profit margins and not pay their CEO 9.5 million a year like they did in 2013. Maybe higher paid workers will be more efficient, seems like at least 1/4 of the time they screw up my order and end up having to throw the food out.
 
Originally Posted By: madRiver
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Get ready for the $10 extra value meal at McDonalds.


There are many decent lunches available at $10 mark around here and they don't pay minimum wage. Maybe folks will start eating decent and likely healthier food instead of corporate garbage.


That was my first thought. Some of this can be self-healing...

I just went and had a wonderful penne vodka with panchetta, a side salad and iced tea for lunch, for $10.25, including tax, in high tax Philadelphia, where the employees have to pay city wage tax on top of state and federal taxes.

How is the place not closed?

Do I really care if people on the public dole cannot afford to eat at MacDonalds? Not really. In fact, their welfare and WIC benefits should be restricted to unprocessed, whole foods, because that is all that's required to survive. I almost had a fit when I got stuck behind a woman buying jolly ranchers and whoppers for her oversized children, and pulled out PAPER WIC checks to pay... (with over 20 items in a less than 20 items line BTW).

Do I care if franchise owners pay ridiculous franchise fees and now can't hit the price targets? If they push innovation, how is that a bad thing? The robot controls technician that is now working at the McD's will probably be sweeping floors and programming and maintaining machines. Maybe it will be a good job for them. And the displaced workers can start their own local hamburger joint and offer lower prices, better service and better wages through their own innovation - or justify higher prices by distinguishing themselves from the typical franchise fast food joint. The ones who want to collect welfare and do NOTHING? Well its not that great of a life.

Im all for ensuring that all sorts of low skill jobs can be available and not automated. While automation innovations can be good, there still is a segment of the population that's below average... And its about half the population. And they have to exist, and they have to do something, and they probably should be prevented from dying in the streets... But it doesn't mean they should have the best of anything... But last I checked, $15/hr sure doesn't get that. Heck, $30/hr is only a $60k/year job and it sure doesn't get you the best of everything either.

So if a few places serve fewer happy meals, and other people (including the displaced workers) create innovation and competition in the food industry (or any other industry), then that's not that bad of an idea.

Last I checked, most trades, even most semi-skilled jobs like roofing and landscaping got paid more than $15/hr, so I don't see those prices changing or increasing much.
 
Does living wage include the cost for someone to buy an iPhone, internet and cable service, Netflix, and a big screen TV?
 
Fast food usually runs 20 to 30 % labor to sales. So if you double 7.25 to 14.50 you need to increase sales by at least that 30%. Then you run into people buying more of your loss leader dollar menu or not buying at all. I cannot see it being sustainable unless its done very slowly over time. Average tickets will not go up alongside that labor based price increase.

When i go to one of the TWO mcds in immediate walking distance to my store it is for a very cheap $4 average ticket. If i want to spend $8 on lunch i buy from the awesome little thai restaurant.

Forced higher wages have resulted in lower employee total earnings in studies i have read. Lower hours and job opportunities are what follows large min wage hikes. If your the mgr of any restaurant and your sales do not support your labor percentage you send people home early. Its what you have to do.
 
Originally Posted By: dareo
Fast food usually runs 20 to 30 % labor to sales. So if you double 7.25 to 14.50 you need to increase sales by at least that 30%. Then you run into people buying more of your loss leader dollar menu or not buying at all. I cannot see it being sustainable unless its done very slowly over time. Average tickets will not go up alongside that labor based price increase.

When i go to one of the TWO mcds in immediate walking distance to my store it is for a very cheap $4 average ticket. If i want to spend $8 on lunch i buy from the awesome little thai restaurant.

Forced higher wages have resulted in lower employee total earnings in studies i have read. Lower hours and job opportunities are what follows large min wage hikes. If your the mgr of any restaurant and your sales do not support your labor percentage you send people home early. Its what you have to do.


Burgers already cost $7.39 JUST A BURGER.. A1 Steakhouse, Rt 1 and 9, Rahway NJ Burger King. And that's not even a LARGE burger.

But yeah, prices gonna go up.......
 
The 'poor' in the U.S.A. seem to do pretty well when compared with poor folks from poor countries, as many of them don't appear to be too calorically deficient.
No doubt it sucks to be poor anywhere, though.

If you can't feed them, don't breed 'em.
 
Imagine if society was full of people making at least $15 an hour. Just imagine what they would do for your business... buy from it. Who cares about the people, but, man, their flush wallets would be nice to have around.

Someone running a business assuming they can't compete with the guy across the street is ignorant of the macroeconomics of wages being not just an expense but a source of income.
 
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
I see fast food as a treat, a once-in-a-while splurge when I'm craving something horrible for me.


^^Same here. Last night I was craving a buttery jack,looks SO yummy in the pic on the coupon page Jack in the Box mailed me :^) I was looking at their online menu to see how much they cost,and that one burger has almost 1000 calories! Holy Moly!! I ended up eating a HUGE t-bone steak instead
laugh.gif
 
Put me in the camp of raising the minimum wage to a reasonable living wage, with an automatic annual adjustment for inflation. It's entertaining to hear people pound their chest and say get a job. Then tell the folks making minimum wage to get a better job...

People deserve the dignity of a job that pays enough to put a roof over their head in exchange for 40 hours of their life each week.
 
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