Bye bye $15/hr min wage Fast Food jobs

Anyone who is working full time, anywhere, deserves a living wage.

People like to to say that these low wage jobs are for high school kids, and once upon a time, that may have been true. But that's not reality anymore, as we have adults working two low wage jobs, sometimes three, in an attempt to have enough to make ends meet, just to cover the basics. They may even be working more than full time, but without the benefit of over time.

This notion that some people are somehow "better" than these low wage workers, all because they exist in a higher tax bracket, is ridiculous and disgusting.

These jobs are important to everyone's everyday existence. Someone has to make the burger, clean the fryers, take out the trash, scrub the toilets, brew the coffee, turn on the gas pumps, serve the guests, bus the tables, clean the hospital rooms, clean up the vomit in aisle 5, and whatever other tasks that must be done, that no one wants to do.

Not everyone can be a doctor or a lawyer, because, if they were, who would take out the trash?

Sometimes the lowest paid employees are vitally important in the whole operation. A hospital house keeper, for example. This is one of the lowest paid positions in the hospital, but without these employees, the whole operation comes grinding to a halt. No clean rooms, means no beds, which means no movement through the facility.

We aren't better than they are, just because we have more decimal places on our paycheck than they do. Anyone thinking they are? Needs to reevaluate.

originally posted by: pianopraze
If I saw this, I would ask to the see the manager. Tell the manager I will never eat at your restaurant until you remove these machines, ask if the store owner is there or for store owners email/telephone and tell the store owner the same thing.

We CAN change these things. Look at this last election.

If we do nothing this will be our future.

It will be our future, it's one of the theories of economics.


Don't blame McDonald's, blame capitalism....SPECIFICALLY the capitalism where the micro-economy of a business becomes so capital intensive (capital are tools for a business, machines, robots etc. ) , it eventually cannibalizes it's labor force. This is what we see in the OP.

There's essentially nothing we can do, unless an extremely drastic paradigm shift in the theories of micro-economics are flipped upside down and companies no longer become focused on increasing profit margins.

Businesses from a perspective of increasing their revenue have no incentive to NOT turn to automation if it will cut costs.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
I think the elephant in the room is invisible, since no one ever talks about him.

Why does minimum wage need periodic adjustments? Because of "inflation". What does that actually mean? The dollar is worth less and less each year.

So instead of protesting our government executing a slow and planned demolition of our currency, we cry for crumbs. Why?

Our government has 3 jobs:

protect our currency
protect our markets
protect our borders

Which, if any, of these 3 do they do? None. And to distract from this massive failure, they have you talk about minimum wage hikes, hoping to continue stoking the class wars. Snap out of it. Quit begging for pieces of your own pie.

Well, minimum wage used to keep up with inflation in a fairly steady manner, but now their is a huge gap between the minimum wage and inflation.

originally posted by: eluryh22

originally posted by: everyone

originally posted by: worldstarcountry
a reply to: Vasa Croe



When selecting Happy meal, it asks for boy or girl. I

I wonder how many gender trenders that will trigger.

Should anyone be triggered. If a boy "identifies" as a girl then the kid should get a "girl" happy meal to get the "girl" toy and vice versa.

Or, the kid can just pick whichever darn toy they like.

We're big fans of the Powerpuff girls in our house. About a year or so ago, about the time when Cartoon Network was launching the Powerpuff reboot, one of the chains (maybe it was Burger King?) was offering something for boys and Powerpuff Girls for girls. Our son wanted the Powerpuff Girls toy (and I was delighted..... because the Powerpuff Girls rock!).

Careful now, i can hear the tumbling tumblr gender fluid's stampeding in already to shout "BIGOT" good 'n ready to crucify you with the 128 commandments that show each and every gender that "exists".

a reply to: Vasa Croe

What annoys me, is the fact that people who made some rather poor decisions in life like dropping out of school, having kids when they weren't ready to, decided that McDonald's, a place where KIDS work while furthering their education should pay them fifteen dollars an hour.

I'm sorry, ringing up orders and flipping burgers are a no-skill job and do not demand more than what McDonald's and other places are willing to pay. McDonald's was never meant to be a career for the majority of people. It was never designed to put food on your table while paying a mortgage, car payments +++.

a reply to: daryllyn

In my opinion there should be law's put in place to prevent businesses to automate their businessmen beyond a certain point or something like that to ensure jobs will be available to people. Imo, just because they CAN automate does not mean that it is a good idea and that they should or should even be allowed too.

What if someone who is right now on welfare but desperately want's to get out of it goes looking for a job. Most jobs will be taken already by like minded people because it is mostly the jobs at the bottom of the food chain that will be affected by this (i dont expect to see a cybernetic AI executive taking over the job's of high paying jobs at apple any time soon) This wont help the economy for the working class, only corporate class. Soon we will be like china if we let them go down this road of automation but who is to say we have to allow them to do so ? I am strongly of the opinion that we do not have to let this happen. Regulation for it is in order and in place if you ask me.

I also don't think it will be long before the food is prepared at a centralized location and they remove the grills and grill workers altogether. Instead the "restaurant" will be a glorified vending machine with inside seating. All they will need is a maintenance worker and a cleaner.

As long as the food is vacuum sealed at the central location, and the machine keeps it warm and gets restocked every 24 hours, what would be the big difference, really? It's not like we go to McDonald's or Burger King to eat gourmet.

My answer to outsourcing and automation - lay down to rest the whole idea of globalism. Our citizens, and especially our upper class, need to feel a patriotic loyalty to our country and fellow citizens. Civilization as we know it won't survive if the middle class collapses. If we devolve back into a feudal society where the vast majority of citizens are impoverished peasantry the rich as they know themselves right now won't continue to exist. Serfdom simply won't support the number of billionaires and millionaires our country has today.

Instead of making all our things in China, India, Pakistan, Korea, Wherever, they need to be made in the United States and be made at hand-operated assembly lines. Get rid of the foreign slave workers. Get rid of the robots. Yes the rich will be less rich, but they will still be rich as they will have a thriving middle class to support them.

IMO this is the only way. We will see how things turn out. I don't think it's possible for our way of life to remain stable with the ongoing trend of outsourcing and automation. We have to put people back to work.

a reply to: DisUglyBoyHere

They HAVE to automate in order to compete.

a reply to: DisUglyBoyHere

Yes, but there is no taste for a paradigm shift is there, because there is a certain sector of the population of not just the United States, but the entire Western developed world, which is doing really rather well out of all this, and because they own production of all the goods and services, they wield the only power that the government, or the markets listen to worth a damn.

Unfortunately for the wealthy, their agenda does not match that of the national interests of those they share a nation with, and ordinarily, democracy would be enough to see their agenda smashed to ruin beneath the feet of the masses, as it ought to be in any fair society, focused on equity and freedom. However, that is not the focus of government, because those who populate its halls of power are beneficiaries of those who earn the big bucks, they take their cut and are very happy with it, by and large.

This is why I find it so frustrating that the spectre of socialism creates such an utterly and intrinsically negative reaction in Westerners generally, but PARTICULARLY in the United States. The propagandist waffle against Mr Bernie Sanders, for example, that were uttered constantly and in great volume by his detractors on the right. This reactionary, brainwashed response to doing things differently, to actually having a paradigm shift in what it means to run business, what the intent of running a business ought to be, the programing people have undergone is part of the problem here, and those who are responsible for that programming are more than aware of it.

Unfortunately, the paradigm shift you speak of, would require that CEOs are no longer in their positions to become small gods, that shareholders are no longer in their positions to allow them to grow fat without putting in any effort, and it would also require that the largest pay packets actually go to those who hands on create the products and provide the services as rendered, by that company or other enterprise.

But no one wants that. Despite the fact that a system so devised would have none of the problems associated with Trickle Down Economics, would solve those problems, the fact that it would look like socialism is enough to put people completely off the idea, even as their stomach lining is consumed by hunger, even as their bladder ceases to fill, their kidneys and liver cease to function through lack of food, even while these things take their lives, they would rather foolishly, and slavishly adhere to the system that is murdering them.

originally posted by: pianopraze
If I saw this, I would ask to the see the manager. Tell the manager I will never eat at your restaurant until you remove these machines, ask if the store owner is there or for store owners email/telephone and tell the store owner the same thing.

We CAN change these things. Look at this last election.

If we do nothing this will be our future.

LoL do you yell at redbox machines as well?

Ever use a touch screen at a car wash, gas station, airline ticket check-in? Or how about order anything online through your personal pocket touch screen e.g. your cell phone? Lots of restaurants are switching over to table side touch screens even.

Electronic touch screens just bring more efficiency to day to day situations, especially in the practically zero patience society that we are becoming, with online streaming, fast data speeds etc... people are wanting things done more quick and faster in every aspect.

Taking away the safety net out of minimum wage jobs is a great thing. Minimum wage jobs are not ment to be lived on as a career, they are designed to give work force experience to move on to bigger better things, not make a career out of it. They are minial jobs typically that can be worked by people with par or sub par skills with minimal education or workforce experience, hence why so they employ so many teenaged youth.

I for one am glad to see this happening as I hope it truly wakes people up that being a teller at a fastfood restaurant, might not be a solid career choice. And maybe will make people start striving for more out of their lives.

Oh and to your comment, in the one minute it took you to type and post your comment on here, which lets not forget was done on a machine, Mcdonalds just sold another 75 hamburgers, your business will not be missed. They will actually probably even send you some free coupons, just to rub it in.

a reply to: DrStevenBrule

More and more people are feeling this way, myself included.

JT

a reply to: Burnt1afterlife

As it happens, I know an awful lot of people who eschew online purchasing, refuse to do business with any company that installs automation in customer service roles, and refuse point blank to use credit cards, myself included. We use technology for what it is for, to improve communications and expand knowledge, and to innovate between ourselves.

But to use it to perform mundane tasks, when it ought to be focused on the hard ones, is hardly the proper use of it.

originally posted by: Kettu
a reply to: Vasa Croe

Sorry, but your friend in TN didn't take any of those photos...

From June 2015

That's for the first image at least. The image is actually a bit older, actually.

Second image is from October 2014

The third image is from this Russian website and story

And the last image is from an April 2015 news story

There's been a lot of talk about these kiosks over the years. McDonalds has been trying them out for several years. They don't seem to really take off though, hence why they keep tweaking them and trying them out in various places.

It does make a great conversation starter whenever the minimum wage/fast food thing comes up in political chit chat though.

Is everybody just ignoring that the OP blatantly lied? This news is several years old, why are we making a derpy, anti-liberal thread about it now?

Oh yea. Because Trump.

I tell you what, 15 dollars an hour is due in some positions, but not taking someones order, maybe making the food, but not taking someones order that's just insane.

Not to mention, I LOVE to use the digital self check out lanes, I'm anti-social, I like not having to make small talk with someone who doesn't really give a rats behind about me. Now if I had only one store I used, same people, that would be a different story, but just in my town alone, there is 10 grocery stores... Seems a bit much to me.

15 dollars an hour to any manual labor job not yet paid that should be criminal, 8.75 for standing at the front and taking an order, handling money and giving food to people, isn't worth 15 bucks, nor could a business handle such overhead.

Self checkout kiosks will be everywhere within ten years, it will be unheard of to have a person check you out in 20 years anyways due to the way people like to keep some purchases private.

Then you have the people who don't think technology should be used this way, it's baffling to me why we'd want people reducing themselves to such positions when they are fully capable and able provided we offer assistance to get such training to work better more rewarding and meaningful positions. If I can teach my kids to design and develop a website, I don't see why others couldn't learn and work for business adding inventory online.

There is so much work to be done right now, that working these type of jobs in many cases isn't giving yourself a proper shot at life. We're much more capable than we think ourselves to be and it's about time we help one another see that. We need an employee / employer renaissance.

Technology was made to help improve our lives and make it easier to handle large amounts of data or long amounts of repetitive work. We made technology to increase productivity and lower costs.

Thread closed for staff review.