Surprise Fast Food Workers' Strike Launches In NYC Today

Updated, 12:11 p.m.: The Fast Food Forward campaign says hundreds of workers are now out on strike, and that they are on track to have 400 strikers, from about 70 stores, by the end of the day.

Interesting that this story isn't getting any traction. Okay, maybe it's not that interesting, so much as really telling.

I guess we'll have to see where this goes.

Okay, these two are pretty cute.

Well, more power to them. Then again, closing down the fast food industry for a few days would improve the health of their customers considerably.

I'm just glad that I chose sweatshops when I started out as an employee. At least my sh*t job was sent overseas.

Those poor bastards' jobs will always be right there waiting to suck them back in for minimum wage until they die on the kitchen floor.

reply to post by NorEaster

The workers are demanding that chains like McDonald’s and Wendy’s raise their wages to $15 an hour and allow them to organize a union without retaliation.

$15 an hour, to say "will that complete your order"?

Are they bonkers?

Its not a job which was meant to support your 10 kids. Its a job for high school students or as something transitional until a person can improve their situations.

I understand that times are tough but instead of demanding more pay for a job that requires zero skills, they should be demanding that the "Federal Reserve" to stop destroying the buying power of our currency.

That may be asking a bit much of these folks.

reply to post by gladtobehere

You're exactly right. The more they pump the wages on the lowest jobs ..and ESPECIALLY while PHD's and Masters degrees can't find work in this country ...the more the HIgh Schoolers and early 20 somethings will just be told to move along and good luck finding work elsewhere. Who in their right mind will hire a first timer or newbie into the work force, if you have a 30 or 40 year old with a degree in anything, willing to do the same job with extra and be quite happy with WHATEVER they get paid now ..because the alternative is sucking goose eggs for checking account balances?

They're protesting and demanding themselves right out of their own jobs and they're too blinded by this entitlement attitude to even see the cause and effect that is so plain here.

Go stomp around for higher wages when unemployment is 4-5%. Not with it's 7-8%. That's the level of thinking that gets them that low wage job to begin with, I hate to say.

reply to post by gladtobehere

If the workers unionize and get their $15 an hour, what will the managers make?

I know someone who is mildly autistic but can still work. So he's worked at fast food places for almost nine years now - but the thing is, they don't pay him, the U.S. government does as compensation. So the fast food owners get to have these type of workers come in for free, not have to pay them, and they are usually their best workers. I don't think he knows about the arrangement, he thinks he's earning the money (his mom handles the details). If they unionize I'm wondering if that would hurt him or if the union would expose this little-known government subsidy to the fast food industry and make them actually hire these workers.

Originally posted by gladtobehere
reply to post by NorEaster

 

The workers are demanding that chains like McDonald’s and Wendy’s raise their wages to $15 an hour and allow them to organize a union without retaliation.

$15 an hour, to say "will that complete your order"?

Are they bonkers?

Its not a job which was meant to support your 10 kids. Its a job for high school students or as something transitional until a person can improve their situations.

I understand that times are tough but instead of demanding more pay for a job that requires zero skills, they should be demanding that the "Federal Reserve" stop destroying our buying power.

That may be asking a bit much of these folks.

I don't know. Went to BK today. Took them 5 tries to get my milkshake at the right consistency(not watery). They could stand a better workforce and then i may actually go back.

Fire them on the spot, arrest them for trespassing, have a new crew hired and trained by lunchtime.

reply to post by gladtobehere


Demanding that an employer keep up with inflation and cost of living seems acceptable to me. Yes the Fed is to blame for the devaluing of the currency, but if the items a business is selling go up in price due to inflation, then so should the worker's wages. Otherwise the difference just ends up as higher profits at the expense of the workers.

DC

reply to post by xDeadcowx


What causes inflation? Higher average wages .. more money .. more demand for goods, lowering supply to higher prices. This is that 101 part of economics I just want to sink into a depression for our own national leaders not getting.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by gladtobehere

 

They're protesting and demanding themselves right out of their own jobs and they're too blinded by this entitlement attitude to even see the cause and effect that is so plain here.

Go stomp around for higher wages when unemployment is 4-5%. Not with it's 7-8%. That's the level of thinking that gets them that low wage job to begin with, I hate to say.

edit on 4-4-2013 by Wrabbit2000 because: Err.. Super typos.. eeek

Speaking of cause and effect, do you know why Henry Ford invented the assembly line, paid his workers twice the prevailing wage, and gave them all 8 hr days and 5 day work weeks? So that he could sell them the cars he was having them make. They became the customer base that made him a fortune.

US companies will never survive if they don't realize that when they short their workers, they are taking away their buying power. This is the single most lucrative market on the planet, and yet it's shrinking and shrinking all the time because the very businesses that live or die as a direct result of the buying power of this market are crippling it with stagnant wages and shipping skilled jobs overseas.

China and India will never become the kind of market that the US used to be. No nation ever will. The race to the bottom - in wages and labor costs - will continue to make it impossible for any American business sector other than banking (and defense) to ever enjoy a boom, or even to have a future worth having. Hell, China may not even survive another 10 years, if the ecological indications are anywhere near predictive.

The new conservatism, as it pertains to economic issues, seems to be based on anything but conservation in its relentless insistence that the US working stiff be stiffed as an article of faith. 80% of this market is quickly losing its ability to support the companies they work full time for. Their charge cards are tapped out, and it's surprising that the bottom hasn't already fallen out beneath them. When it does, the entire business structure in this society will follow them into the basement.

Then what? Or do you think that you're better and more divinely protected against that sort of systemic failure than 80% of the people who live in the same country as you? Hell, even if you're an undertaker, if they don't have the money to pay you, you're not going to get paid. No industry is Depression proof.

Originally posted by solidguy
Fire them on the spot, arrest them for trespassing, have a new crew hired and trained by lunchtime.

I bet you're a brilliant parent of teenage kids.



"Shoot the tramp. We've got two other kids. Two's enough for now, and I'll knock you up to replace her."

Guys like you end up dying in bar fights.

Originally posted by gladtobehere
reply to post by NorEaster

 

The workers are demanding that chains like McDonald’s and Wendy’s raise their wages to $15 an hour and allow them to organize a union without retaliation.

$15 an hour, to say "will that complete your order"?

Are they bonkers?

Its not a job which was meant to support your 10 kids. Its a job for high school students or as something transitional until a person can improve their situations.

Yeah that's not how the world works. Adults work low paid jobs its a fact. Pay them a proper wage or your customers aint getting served. Tired of people backing multi-national companies to exploit labour, Its ridiculous.

I understand that times are tough but instead of demanding more pay for a job that requires zero skills,

These jobs require you to sell your soul, take # from your supervisor, customers, live in poverty and on top of it all - Keep your mouth shut or lose your source of income. That's why these types of jobs are hard to hold down because you end up wanting to drop-kick people in the face.

they should be demanding that the "Federal Reserve" to stop destroying the buying power of our currency.

That may be asking a bit much of these folks.

So because they're not doing things your way, they're doing it wrong?

Since the west brought down the Unions the rich have got richer and surprisingly (Sarcasm) The poor have got poorer! How could that be!?

"you dont like that job, move along"

Umm, if you dont like that job, set about forming a union to improve your prospects in life. A group of people fighting for one thing is more effective than one person trying to take on a massive corp that would take the last penny out of your pocket if they had the chance.

More socialism. Labor Unions = Socialism. That is the end run. This is just part of the DSA plan for raising the minimum wage which will just raise the cost of everything. Higher labor costs = a Mac D burger triple the cost. And you are FOR that.

Just a note, I was listening to talk radio one night and the host was explaining how the unions ruined Hostess Twinkies by forcing them to have different trucks for certain items. It was all labor union demands and very unreasonable and it drove up costs of the items because now they had to use separate trucks for everything. It was all a ruse to get more pay for union members.

reply to post by ThirdEyeofHorus


Blah blah blah.

Did you have anything relevant to add to this discussion?

While it is ridiculous that fast-food workers wish to be paid $15/hr, simply telling them to "go find another job" doesn't really work in a 7-8% unemployment scenario.

I bet a lot of people who take these low-paying fast food jobs are people who despite their skills, cannot locate a better job.

Minimum wage in the United States with click able map.

en.wikipedia.org...

Videos of NYC Fast Food Strike :

www.youtube.com...,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44770516,d.Yms&b iw=968&bih=512&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=w1

reply to post by VaterOrlaag

Did you have anything relevant to add to this discussion?

I did but you didn't understand it. Another poster explained it is Economics 101. Too bad all your teachers were Marxist, and they forgot to explain the reality to you.

I bet a lot of people who take these low-paying fast food jobs are people who despite their skills, cannot locate a better job.

Yes, but this is testimony that Obamanomics isn't working, and the liberal establishment plan of regulating people out of business has cost us a gigantic loss of jobs overseas.

While it is ridiculous that fast-food workers wish to be paid $15/hr, simply telling them to "go find another job"

And when did I tell them to go find another job? That's right, I DIDN'T! See my above response about driving better paying high tech and industry jobs overseas.

Why do I have to talk to someone in India about my computer product?

reply to post by SearchLightsInc

Since the west brought down the Unions the rich have got richer and surprisingly (Sarcasm) The poor have got poorer! How could that be!?

Yah you can thank the mafia bosses for causing so much corruption through labor racketeering that the Feds had to gut the unions.

Originally posted by NorEaster

Originally posted by solidguy
Fire them on the spot, arrest them for trespassing, have a new crew hired and trained by lunchtime.

I bet you're a brilliant parent of teenage kids.

"Shoot the tramp. We've got two other kids. Two's enough for now, and I'll knock you up to replace her."

Guys like you end up dying in bar fights.

Actually, this tactic worked just fine for the Reagan admin who fired all the striking air traffic controllers because they were creating a national safety problem.

Yep it worked and air traffic controllers are still working today.

To the chagrin of the strikers, the FAA’s contingency plans worked. Some 3,000 supervisors joined 2,000 nonstriking controllers and 900 military controllers in manning airport towers. Before long, about 80 percent of flights were operating normally. Air freight remained virtually unaffected.

www.politico.com...