Hey… I don't care what you think… the Minimum Wage of $7.25/hr is TOO LOW….. and a Fast Food Strike is COMING!
Let's just open this up a little bit.
Federal vs State Minimum wages
The federal minimum wage effective July 24, 2009 is $7.25
Texas minimum is $7.25 Jan 1, 2012
The Fast Food Strike That WILL COME
Here are my predictions on this fast food strike… it WILL HAPPEN.
Having run 2 different business and hiring multiple employees and contractors…. oh.. don't get me started on ObamaCare…
What is going to happen to a business that has employees that WANT MORE?
1 of 2 things
1) you give the raises and accept a smaller margin on your profits
2) you fire everyone and hire overseas (that's what the tech companies did)
but.. but… Lawrence… this is Fast Food… you can't possible outsource that?
Why Not?
You don't move the workforce overseas. You move the workforce to teenagers.
So instead of saying…
“I can't live on $7.25/hr”
A high school kid or college student can come in and do the job. It's just a matter of number and what the business is REALLY willing to accept.
You are talking here.. in the USA… in a capitalistic environment when prices and demand are key..
If there are people WILLING to work for $7.25/hr… don't you think you can find them?
Either go younger or go …. go way OLDER>…
We both know a LOT of people who didn't save for retirement and are like 65+ and have no money and can't live on their retirement funds..
HIRE THEM…
What happens when minimum wage is increase?
I remember back in collage i would work part time with a software retail store called Babbage's… they are now part of ebgames I believe.
Place where you can buy sega, nintendo and pc games… basically same stuff now just there are ps4 and xbox one games… some pc games scattered around.
If I would have told my boss I'm going to strike cause you are only paying me $5.50 (this was back 1998) ….
what do you think he would have said?
“you can shove that $15/hr up your butt and get the hell out of here…”> hahhahahah
I kid… my boss is my current sister in law 😉
But she wouldn't have been able to do it..
The position pays what it pays… and someone can step in … and if NOT>.. the company has the option to go place a job with a HIGHER wage…
It's the supply and demand for job placement.
Do You Think A Fast Food Strike Will Happen?
I kind don't care either way… I don't like or encourage anyone to eat at those establishments.
Outside of the unhealthy eating. I'm looking at it like a business owner.
Raising the BASE wage salary will only eventually raise the standard of living across the board from bread to soda and up.
Who does that hurt the most?
Not the wealthy, and probably not the business owners… but back again to the minimum wage fast food strike participant.
How about a Fast Food Union?
OH HECK NO!
I have never been part of a union and don't see it being beneficial.
Can you imagine you going to say… Starbucks and there are employees there that can't be fired?
Want service… SCREW YOU AND YOUR FRAPPACHINO…..
Maybe I'm overreacting or haven't seen all the angles.
Do I Think There Will Be A Fast Food Strike…. YES
One party – business owners need to keep profits up to stay IN business (and yes… it's profits not just what you gross)
Other party – they wan to be paid more.
Is our society based on what you SHOULD be paid or what the MARKET can handle?
What is the GOING RATE for a fast food employee.
Is there a better option? Or is the fast food strike immenent?
To have those who are NOT equipped to live on $7.25/hr… how about decrease your spending or get a higher paid job?
Or is it the fault of the companies for not paying more?
Discuss This Fast Food Strike
Here. Let's discuss this like civilized citizens that vote, praise our military veterans, and have a right to voice our opinions.
Let me know what you think below by commenting below and Share This Post Here
18 Comments
erlindashen · January 21, 2014 at 7:32 pm
I think we are missing a very important perspective in this debate – the kinds of people who are working these jobs. Assuming they came from two-parent households in which both parents were loving and in healthy relationships, they probably have some sticking point when it comes to working outside of minimum wage.
Namely survival.
There are people so poor, that they are semi or fully homeless. They barely or did not graduate, came from broken, violent homes or had children very young. They may have mental illnesses, addiction problems, PTSD, or other psychological trauma. Poverty. It is a disease that will keep you down in a chokehold unless you know better. Many do not.
I grew up in a violent, broken home. Thank God there were no drugs or alcohol, that would have made it worse. The only thing that kept me going was a dream of going to college. I worked in fast food at 17. It was grueling, demanding work. I lasted a week. I joined the Army at 18. Many people in poverty do, to escape lack of opportunity at home. There are raises and benefits. Free education. Travel. A chance for a great start to your career. There are a lot of perks even though the wages start at poverty level. Many want to join, but can’t because of criminal backgrounds. You can’t do anything if you have a criminal record nowadays. That is a whole other issue.
Then there are the educated poor who have no idea how to make money outside of their field, which isn’t hiring.
My point is, this is a last resort for a lot of people who don’t think they can get anything else, with families to support and the result of a lot of bad decisions. The cancer of poverty is the endless line of bad decisions. Like working at fast food.
There is no easy answer to this. It is a very complex social issue. There is something wrong when you have a ton of disenfranchised people who can barely survive, desperate to have something that the media has told them their whole lives they should have – enough money to buy a house, nice things for their kids, etc.
The absence of financial education is a gaping hole that could potentially solve a lot of the poverty issues.
Guess we watch and see what happens. From behind security cameras and gated communities.
shakirazalchemy · December 26, 2013 at 5:19 pm
Lawrence, you’re a GENIUS at Keywords and SEO, and I will hang on to EVERY WORD you have to say on those subjects. However, on the related questions of unions and wages, I would suggest there is more for you to take into consideration.
Unions gave us a basic 40-hour work week (notwithstanding that most professionals blow past that number by as much as 50% on a regular); paid vacations and sick days (notwithstanding that European countries put our paid time off to shame); as well as (mostly)safe work spaces. They ALSO gave us our basic, insurance-funded, health care system. For better or worse. STRIKES brought ALL of those more-or-less standard workplace characteristics into being.
The “minimum wage” was another feature that came, thanks to unions. When it was first introduced, it created a basic living for most people. If it had been able to keep up with inflation, the basic minimum wage would, today, be about $22/hour. So there is really no hope for people to live on $7.25/hr.
People think that fast food jobs are jobs for teens, getting their first job experiences. Thirty years ago, that was the case. People went from fast food to the factories, where they learned a skilled trade. Have you noticed that most of those factories have gone off-shore? Now, teens MIGHT move from fast food to retail, or other service-type jobs. However those jobs don’t pay much better, because of … supply and demand! In today’s job market, there are at LEAST three applicants for every single opening. It doesn’t matter what the qualifications of the applicants may be. They will STILL compete with others equally or better qualified.
Our economy is in transition. This is one of the reasons that I promote entrepreneurship and free enterprise so doggedly. It is the ONLY way that we can revitalize our economy – by bringing new opportunity into the marketplace / job market. However – in the meantime, people need to be able to take care of their families AND have a few dollars to INVEST in their own growth and development – which I say INCLUDES creating multiple income streams.
I don’t want to take up too much airspace here, but I couldn’t help but weigh in on a topic about which I am absolutely passionate. Fairness and equity is critical for a healthy democracy, AND a THRIVING capitalist system. Our capitalist system is broken and damaged – not by “trickle down” economics, but by that huge SUCKING sound that Ross Perot loved to speak about. Except the vacuum is not government spending, as Ross declared, but by oligarchs and the tax and monetary policies that they bought and paid for.
ijs.
Shakira
Lawrence Tam · December 26, 2013 at 8:07 pm
that is deeeep… thanks for commenting on this.
the issue i see if if minimum wage were to go up with inflation and were paid out as such at $22/hr… which employer would hire?
would they cut employees in favor or more hours per person? if unions were in place.. this wouldn’t be allowed and so what happens to the business owner who actually generates income for the economy?
yep…. they go out of business or take it over seas.
i see what your saying about people needing to eat.
I think of it like this.
the moment your needs for food and shelter are at risk… you rise up and meet them. be it take on 3 jobs or go to school/trade… to get a higher paying job.
Once those needs are met, the human condition is to be content… that’s all you need right?
who needs cars, fancy shoes, jewelry, iPhones….
oh… but that is the funny thing.
if you were to take a pole of where the minimum wage spends their money…. I would loved to be proved wrong. I do. Tell me someone who LIVES on minimum wage is properly spending their money in the right place.
Instead of allocating 25% of their income on beer, jordans, and name brand clothes… they should be allocating it to books.
why do you think the library which is free…. is in such low attendance. 68% of americans have one but do they go to study. learn. educate?
the roof and food is taken care of… what is easier… to get a raise or to change their life with a career change.
I can tell you right now… if minimum wage triples and then overtime also goes through the roof…
what will happen? $15 burger king happy meals…. which to me isn’t a bad thing….
but raising the bottom to fix the average isn’t what I think should happen.
spooon · December 17, 2013 at 12:56 pm
rooseveltcooper how do you tell them that and be nice about it?
spooon · December 17, 2013 at 12:56 pm
jef705 wow… so minimum is just a number… and you just grow from there… it’s not what you LIVE on
rooseveltcooper · December 16, 2013 at 6:29 pm
Fast food jobs are not meant to support a family. They are meant to supplement income. Fast food workers should increase their skills and get a higher paying job. You don’t need to be an engineer to do that either.
jef705 · December 12, 2013 at 5:36 am
My first job paid $1.65 an hour, I got through it. My 22 year old son has never worked for minimum wage, his first job ever at 16 paid $9.00. My 17 year old goes to school and works two part time jobs at $7.25. They both know they have to learn more to make more.
spooon · December 10, 2013 at 4:07 pm
Sue Tamani working for someone and building their dream or your own… hard to say what you are worth until someone will pay for it… will business owners pay $15/hr ????
Sue Tamani · December 8, 2013 at 5:57 pm
Hi Lawrence. Come and live in Australia for a while mate. See how the other half lives. And while you’re here, join one of our fantastic unions and see how they work. I can see from your discussion that at heart you are a fair man and KNOW that people are being ripped off when all they get paid is $7.25. Talk about the working poor!!!!
Lawrence Tam · December 8, 2013 at 11:16 pm
once kids get bigger… we want to live visit Australia for sure. There is just a huge issue with business owners and employees and what is the going “rate”.
if you can be replaced with a kiosk… when will you be replaced?
It’s a hard line.
spooon · December 6, 2013 at 4:29 pm
MarkMonciardini Porsche cayman s… thanks!
that wasn’t earned on minimum wage 😉
MarkMonciardini · December 6, 2013 at 3:53 pm
btw, what car you driving in that vid? Has some nice leather.
spooon · December 6, 2013 at 2:31 pm
MarkMonciardini yeah.. it hasn’t risen with inflation but i think that is good too… if that did… it would have a huge ripple effect on people making $10/hr to $30/hr….
MarkMonciardini · December 6, 2013 at 1:32 pm
I remember working at Taco Bell for $4.25 an hour back in 1989. It’s hard to believe that minimum wage today is not far from that, hardly double. I guess my point of view is that it should be higher in America, but then people will always want more anyway.
spooon · December 5, 2013 at 5:25 pm
JohnBotbyl can you be rich by “force”
spooon · December 5, 2013 at 5:25 pm
FrankieMozell i got a better one.. I’ll be training on that very soon to my masters peeps 😉
FrankieMozell · December 5, 2013 at 5:08 pm
Real time post for traffic–thanks for sharing this strategy !!! In honor of the late Nelson Mandela (that will be the number one traffic search..period) we both need to get a blog post on that.
JohnBotbyl · December 5, 2013 at 5:04 pm
“you can’t get rich by demand………” Jim Rohn