$15 dollar fast food wages

[dtbach]

Was thinking of buying some McDonald's but think I'll wait to see what happens with this.

Don't get political but what chance do you think this will come to pass?

 

[Texas Proud]

Was thinking of buying some McDonald's but think I'll wait to see what happens with this.

Don't get political but what chance do you think this will come to pass?

Slim to none.... at least in the short run....


I think in the long run it will eventually get there... heck, I remember a $1 something minimum wage.... who woulda thunk that it would almost get to $8 back then....

 

[M Paquette]

Meh. Wages are about 7% of a franchisee's expenses. There are 6,399 company owned stores and 26,338 franchise stores globally. A change in wages impacts the company stores directly, but is unlikely to alter franchise fees significantly.

Bottom line: MCD still gets the fees, and is still selling supplies to all those franchise holders, and Western civilization isn't about to give up it's Big Macs and delicious fries. They still make money. They're growing almost as fast as the customers waistlines. Buy. Ideally, wait for peak fear and buy.

 

[Walt34]

I think in the long run it will eventually get there... heck, I remember a $1 something minimum wage.... who woulda thunk that it would almost get to $8 back then....

Agreed. My first job in 1967 paid $1.25/hour in a gas station back when someone pumped the gas, cleaned the windshield, and checked the oil.

According to this calculator that would equal $8.92 now. So $15/hour is a bit much, but perhaps not so in NYC. Of course, we didn't have cell phones, iPads, home computers, smart phones, or even central A/C that are "necessities" now. Okay, I'll grant that at least a home PC is necessary now - hard to apply for a job at even Mickyd's without one - but a low end one is $300.

 

[RunningBum]

I think in the long run it will eventually get there... heck, I remember a $1 something minimum wage.... who woulda thunk that it would almost get to $8 back then....

Anyone who understands inflation?

It won't jump that high, that quickly (to $15, within the next year or two).

 

[ziggy29]

Agreed. My first job in 1967 paid $1.25/hour in a gas station back when someone pumped the gas, cleaned the windshield, and checked the oil.

According to this calculator that would equal $8.92 now. So $15/hour is a bit much, but perhaps not so in NYC.

True. That said, if you make adjustments for employee productivity, depending on your methodology (or spin), you could argue for as much as about $22 per hour. That (IMO) requires some unrealistic assumptions about the global economy and job market, but the average US worker is 2-3x as productive in terms of economic output per hour than they were 40-50 years ago. Yes, much of that is automation, not labor, so it's a bit "out there" to suggest a $20 minimum wage.

Almost any way you look at it, in realistic terms the current $7.25 minimum wage is lower than it's been for at least 50 years. And you could make a reasonable argument that it should be adjusted a little *more* than inflation given productivity and corporate profit growth. But one needs to be careful about asking for too much too soon. The details of that start to get too political to get into.

My first job was as a stock clerk at a drug store in 1983 when I was in college. My starting wage was $3.75 when the minimum was $3.35. By the time I left it for my first "career job" in 1987, I was up to $7.25, where the minimum is today. But there are a lot of different ways to try to peg the current minimum wage to past levels and all of them are considerably more than $7.25 in current dollars. And $3.35 (let alone $3.75) was quite a bit more in 1983 than $7.25 is today.

 

[zinger1457]

Like most negotiations you start off by asking for a lot more than you would be willing to accept.

 

[dtbach]

Like most negotiations you start off by asking for a lot more than you would be willing to accept.

I'm pretty sure that this is the idea for the unions supporting this. But I feel that a lot of these folks actually believe that they are worth $15/hr and are entitled to it.

Anyway, this will be interesting to watch and compare to the "Occupy Wallstreet" movement that didn't quite go anywhere.

 

[imoldernu]

No guess on the Minimum Wage, but on the long ago wages:

1958 as a Shavetail Lieutenant going through OCS at Ft. Benning, monthly "wage" was $220/mo... "w*rking about 80 hours per week in the training course, that would make the rate... $.69 per hour.
Even with PX priveliges and some housing subsidy, a tight budget for me and my (then) pregnant wife.

"the good ole days"

 

[martyp]

I also don't think they are going to see $15 any time soon but I think there might be a possibility of an increase in the Federal minimum wage phased in over time.

 

[Walt34]

I also don't think they are going to see $15 any time soon but I think there might be a possibility of an increase in the Federal minimum wage phased in over time.

I would certainly hope so. Ignoring the effects of inflation in law as in anywhere else is simply foolish. I don't see where anyone is "entitled" to a cheap Big Mac. Generations of people somehow, despite the hardships, managed to survive without them.

 

[MRG]

To the OP,
I don't see a wage hike as being the reason MCD has been getting cheaper. They have other bigger problems(IMHO).

On minimum wage, I always thought it was just that, a minimum. If I wanted more it was up to me to do more, get schooling, better job... The wage may need to be raised, but probably not to $15.00 now.

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[Texas Proud]

True. That said, if you make adjustments for employee productivity, depending on your methodology (or spin), you could argue for as much as about $22 per hour. That (IMO) requires some unrealistic assumptions about the global economy and job market, but the average US worker is 2-3x as productive in terms of economic output per hour than they were 40-50 years ago. Yes, much of that is automation, not labor, so it's a bit "out there" to suggest a $20 minimum wage.

Almost any way you look at it, in realistic terms the current $7.25 minimum wage is lower than it's been for at least 50 years. And you could make a reasonable argument that it should be adjusted a little *more* than inflation given productivity and corporate profit growth. But one needs to be careful about asking for too much too soon. The details of that start to get too political to get into.

My first job was as a stock clerk at a drug store in 1983 when I was in college. My starting wage was $3.75 when the minimum was $3.35. By the time I left it for my first "career job" in 1987, I was up to $7.25, where the minimum is today. But there are a lot of different ways to try to peg the current minimum wage to past levels and all of them are considerably more than $7.25 in current dollars. And $3.35 (let alone $3.75) was quite a bit more in 1983 than $7.25 is today.

I do not think there has been much productivity in fast food over the last 50 or so years.... back then they could get our burgers out pretty fast...

 

[samclem]

The amount of a worker's wage should be negotiated between the two parties involved: The employer and the employee. Who else knows (and rightly has the standing to dictate) what the labor is worth to those two parties?

 

[aja8888]

I go to Midland, Texas fairly often. It's the biggest oil boom in Texas right now. My clients tell me that fast food places in town are paying at least $15/hr to get help. The same goes for Walmart I heard.

Certainly not a national thing, but is situational.

 

[dtbach]

I go to Midland, Texas fairly often. It's the biggest oil boom in Texas right now. My clients tell me that fast food places in town are paying at least $15/hr to get help. The same goes for Walmart I heard.

Certainly not a national thing, but is situational.

supply and demand at work. Probably same situation in North Dakota. But in average town USA, supply and demand seem to be about right at standard minimum wage.

 

[REWahoo]

I go to Midland, Texas fairly often. It's the biggest oil boom in Texas right now. My clients tell me that fast food places in town are paying at least $15/hr to get help. The same goes for Walmart I heard.

Certainly not a national thing, but is situational.

Yep. Even teenage babysitters are asking (and getting) $15/hr.

More troubling is the difficulty the towns and counties have in hiring and keeping local govt. employees, especially law enforcement. Why wear a badge and risk your life when you can make two to three times as much working in the oil patch?

Those boom towns are a different world...

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I'm pretty sure that this is the idea for the unions supporting this. But I feel that a lot of these folks actually believe that they are worth $15/hr and are entitled to it.

Anyway, this will be interesting to watch and compare to the "Occupy Wallstreet" movement that didn't quite go anywhere.

This. Since a lot of union wages are tied to the minimum wage, an increase of the minimum wage would result in an increase in union wages.

Sent from my mobile device so please excuse grammatical errors.

 

[Senator]

It will happen soon, althought it may be 5 years. There are millions of people that the most they will ever achieve is a fast food job. They need those jobs to be a career, not a stepping stone. It will be the way we keep America a 'fair' place to live.

 

[Midpack]

It may yet be overturned or modified, but Seattle approved a gradual increase to a $15/hr minimum wage by 2018. Only about a quarter of Seattle workers will be affected, but we may get some insight into what a $15/hr minimum wage might do to a variety of industries (fast food, hotels, etc.).

And about 120 cities and counties have instituted living wage laws, many in the $12 to $15 range. http://www.nelp.org/page/-/Justice/2011/LocalLWLawsCoverageFINAL.pdf?nocdn=1

 

[ERD50]

... That said, if you make adjustments for employee productivity, depending on your methodology (or spin), you could argue for as much as about $22 per hour. ... .

How can you 'argue' for anything other than what supply and demand determines for the price of an hour of labor?

Let's say I start making woodcarvings, and it takes me 5 hours to make one. Can I 'demand' $40 plus materials based on an $8 minimum wage? What if nobody wants my woodcarvings for $40+ ? Then I settle for what the market will bear. Should the govt dictate that a person buys my woodcarving at my price? Or should the buyer/seller come to an agreement?

What if no business wants $15/hour non-skilled labor, when they can get what they need for less? Should the govt dictate that a business buys labor at a set price? Or should the buyer/seller come to an agreement?

The amount of a worker's wage should be negotiated between the two parties involved: The employer and the employee. Who else knows (and rightly has the standing to dictate) what the labor is worth to those two parties?

Exactly. I have yet to see any proponent of a minimum wage be willing to let others set the prices for the things they buy - they typically shop for the best value for themselves. Why should some one else's business be held to a different standard?

-ERD50

 

[clifp]

The Seattle experiment should be interesting. I imagine that both conservative and liberal think tanks are already doing studies on Seattle.

One of the great things about the US is that individual states are (generally) free to conduct social experiments. Unfortunately the results of these experiments tend to be politicized. Although education changes seem to be at least adopted based on primarily on results

The good thing about the Seattle experiment is that is significant I believe the current min wage in Washington is $9.25 and phased in relatively quickly.

My prediction is you'll see a lot of stores and fast food places pop up just outside the city limits.

 

[athena53]

Since a lot of union wages are tied to the minimum wage, an increase of the minimum wage would result in an increase in union wages.

I was unaware of this, and I'll add it to my mental database of what I think could happen if there were a steep increase in the minimum wage. It doesn't happen in a vacuum, after all.

1. The workers will immediately see a bigger tax bite, both Federal and SS/Medicare. Some could lose their Earned income Credit and might end up paying taxes.

2. The price of many goods and services will go up (or quality will suffer). I think that would have the most effect on lower-income workers, who probably spend more of their money at businesses employing a lot of low-wage workers.

3. They may lose social benefits that are based on income. Sadly, sometimes the benefit scheme is set up so that with a small increase in income you lose benefits worth far more than the increase.

4. If they're on subsidized health insurance the subsidy is likely to decrease.

5. Workers who were already making the "new" minimum wage because they'd been at the job a few years and gained some experience will expect increases, too. The union contract provision FlyBoy noted above is a good example.

I don't have a good feel for whether or not minimum wages will be bumped up, but I do think that many proponents haven't thought through all of the implications.

 

[Ronstar]

As much as I'd like to see everyone make a decent living, I don't think it's government's job to mandate wage levels. But it will be good for some workers if they do. And not good for the others that lose their jobs when businesses cut workers to keep costs down.


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[ziggy29]

I do not think there has been much productivity in fast food over the last 50 or so years.... back then they could get our burgers out pretty fast...

Well, true. I was speaking more of the general case. It's not like you can force a burger to cook in 3 minutes instead of 8 minutes.