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Hundreds of fast food workers are striking nationwide Tuesday, joining other workers in pressing for a more livable wage. But while some say $15 is a minimum needed to survive, some business owners say dishing out more pay would leave them struggling to keep their doors open.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fast-food-workers-strike-again-nationwide-for-15-an-hour
In New York City, rallies are being held in Harlem, the Financial District and Brooklyn in support of efforts to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, reports CBS New York.
In Los Angeles, the local protests are organized by Service Employees International Union, and include fast-food, home-care and child-care workers, along with other "underpaid" employees, reports CBS Los Angeles.
"Is this the America we believe in? When someone works all day long and they still can't get by," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said during an early-morning rally in Downtown Brooklyn. "Does anyone believe that it's easy to get by in New York City on less than $15 an hour?"
Critics say a $15 minimum wage would obliterate opportunity and usher in higher taxes, but de Blasio said the opposite is true -- with more money to spend, low wage workers contribute more to the economy.
(Score: 5, Informative) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday November 11 2015, @07:02AM
> Companies are going to look at decreasing labor costs by reducing the labor force.
Until companies look at reducing labor costs by reducing the pay of upper management, I have zero sympathy for their wails that they will go bankrupt if minimum wage is raised, or that they are taxed too heavily. CEO pay is so outrageous that, yes, it is enough money to give a big raise to everyone working for minimum pay. They will never convince me that they pay people fairly when the CEO makes far more than a mere 12 times or even 40 times the lowest paid worker. It's hundreds of times more, and that's what has to change. A few years back, a company I once worked for pushed their CEO out. They gave him a hell of a big golden parachute. He got $52 million, 16% of the company's net worth!!! Don't know which of the morons on the board went for that scandalously favorable contract, but wow, just wow.
As for McDonald's, the current CEO, this Steve Easterbrook, will earn $1.1 million, and that's just the base salary, that's not counting bonuses and the like. With all the extras, his compensation is over $10 million. That equates to over $5000/hour. If the lowest rate they pay workers is raised to $15/hour, and CEO pay is not changed, the CEO is still making at least 333 times as much.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday November 11 2015, @03:34PM
I agree - CEO's are overpaid, astronomically. That needs to be curbed.
I wasn't expecting "sympathy" for the corporations, I was just pointing out the facts of life. Mickey D has gotten used to exploiting people at a certain cost, and if those costs go up, Mickey is going to look harder at automation. That's just the way it is.
(Score: 4, Informative) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday November 11 2015, @05:30PM
Management uses change and events as pretext for their agendas, which, sadly, are them first. They know very well that they are going to automate more and employ less, regardless. Humans cannot compete with machines at simple, repetitive, automatable tasks. Lowering the minimum wage will not save any of those jobs, and suggesting otherwise is little more than a cynical attempt to manipulate and scare the public into accepting lower minimum wages.
The money saved by beating down pay tends to go to upper management in the form of even bigger bonuses, for reducing labor costs of course. That's what Crandall, CEO of American Airlines, did many years ago. He persuaded the unions to accept lower pay. Argued eloquently that the survival of the airline (and their jobs) depended on getting costs down, and they agreed. Then he was awarded a huge bonus, that was pretty close to the amount of money saved. The employees and unions were furious when they found out, as they did shortly after. There was even a political cartoon about it, showing Crandall at a podium giving a speech about labor costs, while reaching into a cookie jar he was holding behind his back. "Watch what we do, not what we say." But that's so typical. Could hardly have better demonstrated the routine greed, selfishness, and hypocrisy of upper management. They need keepers or something, to stop them from behaving so foolishly. They're like Icarus, flying too close to the sun.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday November 11 2015, @06:58PM
The CEO of Target Canada did an EPIC FAIL, face palmed out of Canada and got $61 million U.S. for his troubles!
Fail = $61 million.
(Whereas for me, i'm sure Fail = fired).
Things are WAY OUT OF WHACK... this is the kind of thing that makes the world a horrible place. Hard-working people with families can't get by vs. People fail utterly and get a huge payoff.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Wednesday November 11 2015, @07:07PM
The CEO of Target Canada did an EPIC FAIL, face palmed out of Canada and got $61 million U.S. for his troubles!
But, but, CEO's need to be paid that much because they face all the risk!
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday November 11 2015, @08:04PM
Wish i could face risk like that...
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Friday November 13 2015, @02:56AM
You and me both. Knowing that no matter how badly you screw up short of ending up in jail, you are set for life. I guess the risk involves become insane with arrogance.