Fast-Food Workers Strike, Protest For Higher Pay

[beenthere]

In Washington, D.C., dozens of people carried signs and marched while singing "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, it's no fun, to survive, on low low low low pay."

In New York City, about 100 protesters blew whistles and beat drums as they marched into a McDonald's chanting "We can't survive on $7.25."
And in Detroit, more than 100 workers picketed outside two McDonald's restaurants, singing "Hey hey, ho ho, $7.40 has got to go!"

One-day labor walkouts were planned at fast-food restaurants in 100 cities Thursday, with protests in scores more cities and towns across the nation. Organizers, actually a loose-knit group of labor advocates mostly led by the Service Employees International Union, are pressing for an increase in the federal minimum wage, higher wages in the industry, and the right to unionize without management reprisals.

The advocacy groups are hoping to build public support for raising the federal minimum wage of $7.25, or about $15,000 a year for full-time work. A common battle cry has been "Fight for 15" — a $15-per-hour minimum wage.



If these dolts got their way and were paid $15 per hour, the price of the food is going to soar.
Next they'll be protesting that they can't afford the hamburger meal because it doubled in price.
These idiots don't realize that they are just screwing themselves, what the hell happened to developing some skills and getting a better job if you don't like it where you're at?

 

[NLXSK1]

In Washington, D.C., dozens of people carried signs and marched while singing "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, it's no fun, to survive, on low low low low pay."

In New York City, about 100 protesters blew whistles and beat drums as they marched into a McDonald's chanting "We can't survive on $7.25."
And in Detroit, more than 100 workers picketed outside two McDonald's restaurants, singing "Hey hey, ho ho, $7.40 has got to go!"

One-day labor walkouts were planned at fast-food restaurants in 100 cities Thursday, with protests in scores more cities and towns across the nation. Organizers, actually a loose-knit group of labor advocates mostly led by the Service Employees International Union, are pressing for an increase in the federal minimum wage, higher wages in the industry, and the right to unionize without management reprisals.

The advocacy groups are hoping to build public support for raising the federal minimum wage of $7.25, or about $15,000 a year for full-time work. A common battle cry has been "Fight for 15" — a $15-per-hour minimum wage.



If these dolts got their way and were paid $15 per hour, the price of the food is going to soar.
Next they'll be protesting that they can't afford the hamburger meal because it doubled in price.
These idiots don't realize that they are just screwing themselves, what the hell happened to developing some skills and getting a better job if you don't like it where you're at?

The government continuously tells you that you are not good enough to get anywhere on your own and that bad people are discriminating against you and keeping you in your place and all you need is a government program and your life will be better.

The victims that believe that have no hope that they can be their own salvation, they just look to the government to keep bailing them out from bad decision to bad decision.

It is really sad.

 

[heckler73]

Pffffttt...
Whatever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thus the price is not determined by the cost of production of an item. Which means that, if we raise McDonald’s production costs by increasing the wages of the workers, the price isn’t going to change. For it’s not production costs that determine prices: it’s competition that does. Another way to put this is that McDonald’s is already charging us the absolute maximum that it can for its current level of sales. Thus it cannot raise its prices if its production costs go up.


All of which means that the real change in the cost of a Big Mac, or the dollar menu, if McDonald’s workers were paid $15 an hour is: nothing. For production costs simply do not determine the prices that can be achieved in a competitive market.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/08/02/the-real-change-in-the-cost-of-a-big-mac-if-mcdonalds-workers-were-paid-15-an-hour-nothing/

At worst, this will cause businesses to increase the amount of capital used in lieu of labour.
You've heard of the Cobb-Douglas production function, right?
Also consider the changes in aggregate demand such a rise would bring (cf. Card and Krueger, Wicks-Lim et al.)
There are a lot of moving parts in this machine.

How will an increase in minimum wage affect your wood-tick empire? I'm sure you'll be able to pay your illegals the same rate you do now...eh? Am I right?
wink wink nudge nudge know what I mean?
That's another side effect which is quite popular in Italy; black money (soldi nero). Under the table and all that jazz...
There will be repercussions but not necessarily in the way you envision.

 

[Grojak]

Every restaurant from Mcdonalds to the Met operate on FLM (Food, Labor, Marketing) that is your initial overhead (before lease, heating and all that shit). If you're making $1000 in a 4 hour lunch period and have 4 crew members the cost of their labor is $240 not to mention the mgr that is making the 50k salary which would add another $80 or so now we're at 1000 - 320 = 680 and went through $100 worth of food - $580

$580 (these are made up but decent numbers)

at 7.25hr labor is more than half the $240 or roughly $120 diff, that over a 365 day year is a $43,000 difference just for the lunch hour, probably triple that number for the evening hours. Only 2 things can come by paying these often high school kids $15hr A. Cost of food gets crazy or B. they go out of business


Seattle started this whole thing over a month ago, it ended as soon as folks needed their $9.15hr pay checks (min wage here) as will this one. $15 an hour for mcdonalds workers means that $6 value meal just became $9 or $10 bucks... who the fuck is going to go pay $10 for a big mac when they can get a decent meal at a restaurant with REAL food and REAL cheese?

 

[abandonconflict]

If these dolts got their way and were paid $15 per hour, the price of the food is going to soar.

Not really. Aggregate demand would increase proportionately to the increase in wages.

 

[spandy]

The victims that believe that have no hope that they can be their own salvation, they just look to the government to keep bailing them out from bad decision to bad decision.

I wonder how many are actually "victims" and how many are just "do nothings."

 

[beenthere]

Pffffttt...
Whatever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thus the price is not determined by the cost of production of an item. Which means that, if we raise McDonald’s production costs by increasing the wages of the workers, the price isn’t going to change. For it’s not production costs that determine prices: it’s competition that does. Another way to put this is that McDonald’s is already charging us the absolute maximum that it can for its current level of sales. Thus it cannot raise its prices if its production costs go up.


All of which means that the real change in the cost of a Big Mac, or the dollar menu, if McDonald’s workers were paid $15 an hour is: nothing. For production costs simply do not determine the prices that can be achieved in a competitive market.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/08/02/the-real-change-in-the-cost-of-a-big-mac-if-mcdonalds-workers-were-paid-15-an-hour-nothing/

At worst, this will cause businesses to increase the amount of capital used in lieu of labour.
You've heard of the Cobb-Douglas production function, right?
Also consider the changes in aggregate demand such a rise would bring (cf. Card and Krueger, Wicks-Lim et al.)
There are a lot of moving parts in this machine.

How will an increase in minimum wage affect your wood-tick empire? I'm sure you'll be able to pay your illegals the same rate you do now...eh? Am I right?
wink wink nudge nudge know what I mean?
That's another side effect which is quite popular in Italy; black money (soldi nero). Under the table and all that jazz...
There will be repercussions but not necessarily in the way you envision.

Not really. Aggregate demand would increase proportionately to the increase in wages.

I guess we all know why progs are always looking for gubment to give them a leg up, they don't have the business smarts or the work ethic to do it on their own.

 

[Dr Kynes]

Pffffttt...
Whatever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thus the price is not determined by the cost of production of an item. Which means that, if we raise McDonald’s production costs by increasing the wages of the workers, the price isn’t going to change. For it’s not production costs that determine prices: it’s competition that does. Another way to put this is that McDonald’s is already charging us the absolute maximum that it can for its current level of sales. Thus it cannot raise its prices if its production costs go up.


All of which means that the real change in the cost of a Big Mac, or the dollar menu, if McDonald’s workers were paid $15 an hour is: nothing. For production costs simply do not determine the prices that can be achieved in a competitive market.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/08/02/the-real-change-in-the-cost-of-a-big-mac-if-mcdonalds-workers-were-paid-15-an-hour-nothing/

At worst, this will cause businesses to increase the amount of capital used in lieu of labour.
You've heard of the Cobb-Douglas production function, right?
Also consider the changes in aggregate demand such a rise would bring (cf. Card and Krueger, Wicks-Lim et al.)
There are a lot of moving parts in this machine.

How will an increase in minimum wage affect your wood-tick empire? I'm sure you'll be able to pay your illegals the same rate you do now...eh? Am I right?
wink wink nudge nudge know what I mean?
That's another side effect which is quite popular in Italy; black money (soldi nero). Under the table and all that jazz...
There will be repercussions but not necessarily in the way you envision.

that is specious.

if the cost of producing your market goods rises higher than the price you can get for it, you MUST raise prices, or fold up shop and do something else.

Macro-Economic Voodoo cannot turn an item that costs $6 to produce but only sells for $5 into a winning proposition.

unless they design and build Burger Flippin Robots, or switch to Rat Meat, the price will have to go up or the franchisees will lose their shirts and burger stands will close.

and What Teh Fux is a wood tick empire?

 

[beenthere]

Progressive solution:

 

[racerboy71]

that is specious.

if the cost of producing your market goods rises higher than the price you can get for it, you MUST raise prices, or fold up shop and do something else.

Macro-Economic Voodoo cannot turn an item that costs $6 to produce but only sells for $5 into a winning proposition.

unless they design and build Burger Flippin Robots, or switch to Rat Meat, the price will have to go up or the franchisees will lose their shirts and burger stands will close.

and What Teh Fux is a wood tick empire?

God damn I really hate to say this, but I agree with kynes and beenthere on this 1..
Of course the price of a big Mac is gonna go.up.if McDonald's are now forced to.double their employees salary.. it's very basic.. if McDonalds are now making x amount of.money per burger sold, which takes into account the price of the kangaroo meat, the bun, and special sauce, plus the $7 / hr the person flipping them gets paid, do you honestly think McDonalds will just now say, oh, OK, screw the bottom line and profits, we'll just eat that double salary cost and not pass it onto our customers? Fuck no, they're going to want to make the same amount of.money they are now, which the only way of.doing so would be to raise the cost of a happy meal..

 

[racerboy71]

Progressive solution:

Christ, would you get off the progressive tip, I agree with you ffs..

 

[see4]

God damn I really hate to say this, but I agree with kynes and beenthere on this 1..
Of course the price of a big Mac is gonna go.up.if McDonald's are now forced to.double their employees salary.. it's very basic.. if McDonalds are now making x amount of.money per burger sold, which takes into account the price of the kangaroo meat, the bun, and special sauce, plus the $7 / hr the person flipping them gets paid, do you honestly think McDonalds will just now say, oh, OK, screw the bottom line and profits, we'll just eat that double salary cost and not pass it onto our customers? Fuck no, they're going to want to make the same amount of.money they are now, which the only way of.doing so would be to raise the cost of a happy meal..

You are missing something. Current profits and expect profits. The problem is that corporations are driven solely on shareholder equity, with that are falsely evaluated on profit margins. I say falsely, because profit does not necessarily equate to price earnings. Because misinformed investors only see a narrow view into the window of a business, they react to only a few particular variables rather than the bigger picture.

Therefore raising minimum wage will work but ONLY if in parallel better corporate regulation was implemented.

Using McDonalds as an example, you guys should look up how much fucking money they have on hand.

 

[SnapsProvolone]

Problem is that Obama's economic recovery consisted of employing family wage earners in "jobs" that were meant to get high school kids a few bucks for gas. Now these people can't live on two or three of these "jobs" and are now asking for a living wage.

Lets face it we sent all those good living wage jobs overseas so we could buy cheap crap from walmart.

 

[racerboy71]

You are missing something. Current profits and expect profits. The problem is that corporations are driven solely on shareholder equity, with that are falsely evaluated on profit margins. I say falsely, because profit does not necessarily equate to price earnings. Because misinformed investors only see a narrow view into the window of a business, they react to only a few particular variables rather than the bigger picture.

Therefore raising minimum wage will work but ONLY if in parallel better corporate regulation was implemented.

Using McDonalds as an example, you guys should look up how much fucking money they have on hand.

I've read and reread this about 5x's now see, and I'm still not picking up what you're putting down.. would you mind breaking down the first paragraph in a different way so I could maybe understand a bit better, please and thank you..

 

[heckler73]

I guess we all know why progs are always looking for gubment to give them a leg up, they don't have the business smarts or the work ethic to do it on their own.

You're a wood-tick, not a burger flipper. I know for a fact the cost mechanics are vastly different in your sector because I've had to do "bids" myself (except with steel).
If you're as small a company as you imply, and you have competition, your contingency buffer is probably ~5% or else you're getting undercut by others.
And it would really suck if your competitors already have capital stock prior to bidding (assuming materials have a continuous inflation).
Then again, I can't profess knowledge of the intricacies in California construction, my experience is mostly in Western Canada and the contracts I dealt with dwarfed what you recently claimed as revenue (~$1Mn/yr?).
Perhaps you have different numbers to play with?
Please, tell me more...

that is specious.

if the cost of producing your market goods rises higher than the price you can get for it, you MUST raise prices, or fold up shop and do something else.

Macro-Economic Voodoo cannot turn an item that costs $6 to produce but only sells for $5 into a winning proposition.

unless they design and build Burger Flippin Robots, or switch to Rat Meat, the price will have to go up or the franchisees will lose their shirts and burger stands will close.

and What Teh Fux is a wood tick empire?

You may be correct on the surface but you're neglecting one thing...profit margins.
McD's et al. have plenty of number-crunchers working for them figuring out the maximum prices they can charge the consumer in order to maintain those margins.
They currently have an average profit margin of ~20%.
Their labour costs are 17% of the operating budget...

To put that in perspective, if they charge $1.20 and it costs them $1, then 17 cents goes to labour.
DOUBLE the labour cost and the profit margin goes to 3 cents or ~2.5%, ceteris paribus.
Oh sure, shareholders who don't do fuck all as far as the company is concerned get hit on their divies (boo fucking hoo), but the company still has plenty of room to work, and that's assuming they don't raise prices modestly or squeeze their suppliers, ala WalFart, or utilize more capital instead of labour.

The places where you will see a negative effect is in SMEs. That will cause competition on the bleeding edge to get pushed out, but that leaves more business for the leftovers.
And once again, that is precluding aggregate demand effects...

I know I know... "Tarot reading"
PS Wood-tick is slang for carpenters.

 

[travisw]

Christ, would you get off the progressive tip, I agree with you ffs..

You have to wonder if he created the post just to use his McLenin.

Everything I have read disputes his claim that a doubling of the minimum wage equals a doubling of the price of your burger. It would certainly mean less jobs though.

Here is an interesting article on the topic if you are so inclined.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/08/the-magical-world-where-mcdonalds-pays-15-an-hour-its-australia/278313/

 

[SnapsProvolone]

Such concepts as cheap and fast food service would never have been possible without an abundant supply of cheap labor. Labor is another commodity like bread, it's all supply and demand based. As long as we have such a disparity between the increasing numbers of un\under employeed workers and a finite or shrinking job sector we will continue to witness an evaporation of our middle class.

 

[beenthere]

You have to wonder if he created the post just to use his McLenin.

Everything I have read disputes his claim that a doubling of the minimum wage equals a doubling of the price of your burger. It would certainly mean less jobs though.

Here is an interesting article on the topic if you are so inclined.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/08/the-magical-world-where-mcdonalds-pays-15-an-hour-its-australia/278313/

The doubling of the price of a burger was rhetorical but there is no doubt that the price of goods will go up.

 

[travisw]

The doubling of the price of a burger was rhetorical but there is no doubt that the price of goods will go up.

I agree that prices will go up.

 

[junker1]

If mcdonalds had the option, they would hire illegal imigrants for 4 an hour. They only care about their bottom line, That's it. If they cold serve rat meat and not get caught they would