What is everyone's thoughts on the group protesting to get paid $15 to work at McDonald's?

I'm on the fence.. It bothers me when able bodied people are on welfare, when they CAN work at McD's but @ 7 or 8 an hour...you a make more on welfare.
I just don't know?

In a free market society why can't I DECIDE how much money I'm willing accept for any job? If I want to work for $2.50/hour that should be my choice, not someone in Washington.

No one can FORCED me to work at any job.

After seeing the demonstrations locally for a $15/hour wage at McDonald's I figured I needed to get training before applying for a job there. I tried to find a burger flipping class at my local community college....I couldn't find one.

McDonalds is a temp gig for high school kids and college students, not a career move.

That may be the case for certain folk in the US, but in many EU countries it is a way for legal immigrants, both EU and non-EU, to acclimatize, to start earning an income to feed their families, to start contributing to social funds so as to have social security and at the same time to learn the local language. They are trained on the job, staff turnover is high, but it affords those who want it the pride of working and not being useless, and also for those who are new to the countries and who are not eligible for unemployment claims benefits to earn an income without being discriminated against. As an example a couple arrived in Vienna (Austria) last year and until they learnt the language both fed their 2 kids working at McDonalds for the wage that was stipulated - nobody else gave them a change and both husband and wife were highly educated to Doctorate level but had lost everything in Greece.

@Smartazzjohn: some of us are not able to dictate what the employer is going to pay us, instead we accept that living certain countries we also have to accept what is gazetted and what the market dictates what we are worth - given market saturation with many high profile jobs in EU it isn't very easy to demand the €?? at the end of the day. But you are very correct nobody can ever force you to work - and if your government can afford to pay for people that are able/healthy/capable - to stay at home then consider yourself lucky.

This was my 1st thought... I don't want my kid saying, I'll work at McDonalds and be set

Where I find it out of line is if they raise minimum to $15 for fast food workers... then what happens to all those above them that are working the jobs and getting paid the $15?

Let me just say this those workers will not get raises to be above fast food workers they will remain with their salary. Then the cost of living and food will all will rise..... In the long run who benefits from it all?

Those that wait tables will still make the $2.15 and hour but will have to pay taxes on the $15 hour...

I'm all for people making more money but many are not putting the thought into what it will do to the economy. And those within jobs that had to get a degree or work many years up the ladder to get there....

Sorry $15 is a bit over the line for minimum wage.....

If they would weed out the Welfare people that are taking the system and do not need it they would see a big difference...

I see it all the time those that are on welfare and doing better then I do and I work for my money.

They should be allowed to get paid exactly what they are worth, nothing. They also should be barred from any sort of welfare. Let them find out what it takes to make it on their own.

But it doesn't really matter, they will find out soon enough anyway.

What is the current minimum wage in the states for an employee at McDonalds?

That is the way it is supposed to work but now there is the entitlement world were every one is entitled.

And there are $15.00 an hour and more employees at McDonald's, they are called shift supervisors and managers. But that really isn't the issue, the issue is the entitlement crowd, they don't want to earn anything, they want instant gratification, gimme, gimme.

It could be career, all you have to do is move up the ladder just like anywhere else. But you are correct that being just part of the crew isn't career, they can't exist that way. There business model to provide fast cheap food requires cheap labor. In fact back when they first started the idea was high school and college with frequent turnovers.

The idea was that most finished school and moved on, never got raises but some of the good ones were retained and put into career development.

I know here in Milwaukee, WI we had the protests. Thing is it wasn't the workers protesting. It was a group called Wisconsin Jobs Now. They organized the protests and bussed in protesters. The McDonalds was open and none of the workers walked off the job to protest and demand $15/hr.
The unions are also backing these protests because they want to unionize the workers.

And that sir is a total cop-out. To settle for another's value is to declare slavery. It is the responsibility of the person to determine if the job is acceptable for the wage being paid, if not do something else. Of course you can always start your own business and see just what you are truly worth.

Why not? Are you implying your kid is lazy and would be content to flip burgers the rest of their life? What about the ones that start there and now own four or five franchises? There are opportunities everywhere for those that look.

it means that MD's will have to raise their prices on everything...

goodbye md's...lol

This is one of the best responses here, your analogy is right on. While the raise may look good on paper, in practice over the long run all it does is destroy others. Over time things will catch up and the $15 will revert to a value of $7.

But what the hey, nobody in today's world understands value anyway. If you bought something in 1913 for $1, today you would have to spend $23.72 for that same exact item. Now the item didn't change, it the exact item, so what changed? It was the value of money or actually I should save the loss of value of money, a hidden tax called inflation. And to put this another way, if you had a dollar back in 1913, today it's value would be $0.04.

Check it out for yourself:

US Inflation Calculator

http://www.mises.org/daily/6665/How-SpecialInterest-Groups-Benefit-from-Minimum-Wage-Laws

http://bastiat.mises.org/2014/01/minimum-wage-mendacity/

http://bastiat.mises.org/2014/01/hazlitt-explains-minimum-wage-laws/

http://laborpains.org/2013/02/14/new-research-labor-unions-support-minimum-wage-hikes-because-their-contracts-peg-salaries-to-minimum-wage-levels/

Research from the Center for Union Facts Uncovers Union Agenda Behind President Obama's Minimum Wage Hike Proposal

Today the Center for Union Facts released new research detailing how many collective bargaining agreements link union salaries and wage rates to the federal minimum wage. This research comes two days after President Obama proposed raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $9,a move which labor unions broadly praised.

The research brief can be accessed here.

This research shows that labor unions stand to gain from minimum wage increases, even though their members don't make the minimum wage, said Richard Berman, Executive Director of the Center for Union Facts. Some union contracts set starting union wages as much as fifteen percent higher than the federal minimum wage.

Union officials have been anything but altruistic in their support for minimum wage hikes over the years, Berman concluded. This also calls into question whether some politicians who support minimum wage hikes do so out of support for unions,the same unions that are some of the nation's biggest campaign contributors.


http://mises.org/daily/6638/Welfare-Minimum-Wages-and-Unemployment

its supply and demand on both sides,,,

we currently have a culture that demonizes people for wanting what they consider adequate pay as opposed to just taking a job to stay off of assistance


but, on the flip side employers are clearly supported in setting wages that are 'adequate' for their ledgers

however, in fairness, just like employers having that ability to decide what wages best feed their 'profit' , employees have the ability to decide what wages best feed their families,,lol

if their wages aren't competitive, they don't get the employees
just like if the employees 'skills' aren't competitive they don't get the job'


seems like the 'fair market' to me, for both sides, and it will work out whenever both sides figure out a compromise that they both feel is adequate to meeting their ability to maintain their business, or their family's needs,,,

My thought also. Many still live at home with mom and dad.

No one has to DICTATE what a employer will pay them in a free market economy because supply and demand will dictate what an employer HAS to pay. The US didn't become the RICHEST country in the world using socialist, communist or fascist economic methods. Is that so hard to comprehend?

One of the biggest problem in the EU is the DEPENDENCY on the GOVERNMENT for the cradle to grave entitlement mentality by many people and that is causing the austerity measures that those same people are crying about. Why should the any government steal money from one person and give it to able, healthy and capable people so they can stay at home? The notion that it is the government responsibility is what creates an irresponsible and unproductive society.

Big government is the problem.....not the solution.

problem with the analogy is comparing the US to the EU

the EU is made of 28 countries,,,

one of which, Luxembourg is higher on the 'richest' list than the US is http://top10thebest.com/top-10-richest-countries-in-the-world/

also , higher on the 'richest' list is, Norway(Which by American standards may be considered to be taking from some to give to others with their health system)

and all the others above us are in ASIA

now,, I don't know about other people, but I certainly feel there are other things that make a society or culture desirable besides just how 'rich' it is,,,

like how it treats its citizens,,,