U.S. Fast Food Strike expanding to 50 states

[Sportacus]

Fast-food workers in 50 U.S. cities plan to walk off the job today in an attempt to ratchet up pressure on McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) and Wendy’s Co. to raise wages.

Protests that began in New York last year are spreading to cities including Boston, Chicago, Denver, San Diego and Indianapolis, according to the Service Employees International Union, which is advising the strikers. About 200 workers showed up at the two-story Rock N Roll McDonald’s store in Chicago’s River North neighborhood this morning chanting: “Hey hey, ho ho, poverty wages gotta go!”

The non-union workers are demanding the right to organize and wages of $15 an hour, more than double the federal minimum of $7.25. They now make $9 an hour on average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By simultaneously targeting the largest chains, including Yum! Brand Inc.’s Taco Bell and KFC, Subway and Burger King Worldwide Inc. (BKW), organizers want to force a sector-wide response.
“What the workers are trying to do is hold the corporations accountable,” said Mary Kay Henry, SEIU president.
If the minimum wage were raised to $10.50, fast-food restaurants would see about 2.7 percent higher costs, according to a letter signed by economists in July in support of raising the federal minimum wage. The eateries could absorb those cost increases by raising menu prices and by allowing low-wage workers to get more of the business’s revenue, it said.

Read more:
[link to www.bloomberg.com]

I'm interested to see what others here think.

I will also post what I think. As some of you know, i'm a 'national socialist' meaning I believe that a country's government should focus on the welfare, security, and well being of it's citizens as a whole, before other nations, and that as a country people should never let a fellow brother or sister be left behind, and we should all strive for the highest standard imaginable, and continue to go beyond that.



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I don't like fast food whatsoever, and haven't visited a fast food chain in well over 10 years.

But that is beyond the point.

What we are seeing here is something bigger than fast food workers wanting/needing more pay, but rather seeing that most states in the USA need to increase the minimum wage, as the cost of living has increased.

That should be simple to see.


Furthermore, despite there being many low lifes in the fast food industry/lower paying job market, there are good people as well, and there is an ethical matter in this whole problem, and as a nationalist, it is easy to spot it...

and that is..

No American should be left behind.

People should be respected in the work that they do, all jobs exist because a need is there to be filled.

They should not be ridiculed, and looked down on, but rather respected for the time and effort put fourth.

We show respect in the working world by paying our employees for their work.

By not giving them enough money to even live off of, we are treating them like slaves, and not teaching them the value of hard work, but rather teaching them about exploitation.

Many people in lower paying jobs are young people, and they are not learning the value of hard work, but rather learning that their efforts are pointless, showing up on time, doing your tasks well, none of it matters, you won't be rewarded or respected what so ever for it, you learn that you are nothing but a cog for a bigger machine, to benefit someone else.


There is a saying called, work will set you free, but when your work doesn't set you free, there is a problem in the system.


The problem here is greed, and exploitation. When the people in charge of a business can live without want, and enough money to sustain himself and his family for generations to come, and the ones working for him are scraping together all means necessary to even survive to the next day, there is a problem.


We should never want poverty in our country, we should hold ourselves to the highest standards imaginable, and then continue to strive further than that.

We must all strive to make the greatest nation on this Earth, and just because our government/the corporate world has betrayed us, doesn't mean that our standards should be dropped.

The government is nothing but a representative body of the people, as people of the nation, we have to have our voices heard.

Just because there are tons of low lifes living in your country now, doesn't mean you should ever let YOUR standards drop, we must stand strong and steadfast, and not let our nation deteriorate to the standards of a third world nations.


People deserve to be respected in the workplace. They should be able to live off of the work they do, and be held to a high standard. If they do not meet the standard, they will be removed, and doesn't deserve to live in our society.

But there is a problem of greed that is obviously plaguing our country.

No one deserves, or needs, to make millions of dollars a year, as an individual. They should be held accountable for their earnings, and due to the gross over payment, be taxed as a result of it.

We shouldn't have a lower class, and we should all strive to make sure none of our brothers or sisters live in poverty, and all work together to achieve that goal.


That is what national socialism means to me, is to work together to make the greatest nation on Earth, and never have our standards broken.


Realistically, 15 dollars an hour is far too much for a fast food job, but the problem still stands they are being paid too little, and the 15 dollar an hour mark is a high goal, and one probably expected to be lowered in a compromise.

 

[Royal Inferno]

Omg, no more hamburgers, all americans are going to die, holy crap, this is the apocalypse ;'<

free bump anyways dont be sad

 

[Evan]

@up, this has nothing to do with food, lol. Don't be so ignorant.

 

[Flatlander]

Sportacus knows my opinion on this, (We are basically opposites) but I will present it to you guys.

In my personal opinion, the amount of work you do, plus the skills and labor involved determine how much wages you should make. Making a frozen hamburger, or salting fries and pressing buttons on a cash register are extremely easy jobs that anyone can do. That is why the fast food industry has such a high-rate of low-IQ, mentally handicapped, or lazy workers.

Yes, some people that work at fast food places may be hard working single mothers with families to feed, and those hard working people should make more money than the lazy average people that do work at fast food restaurants (and they usually do).

Instead of asking for ALL wages to be increased, I would rather they ask for bi-yearly employee reviews and minimum raises. So a good worker that does his or her job correctly and shows up on time every day she is scheduled will continue to get pay raises, and the lazy people that hop from fast food job to fast food job will stay at the low minimum wage.

There is NO REASON that EVERYONE working at fast food restaurants deserves more money. What a person NEEDS does not matter, only what they deserve.

 

[Evan]

Same here, this is my lowly opinion on this.
Fast-food jobs should be for high school dropouts, it should be for people who fail to make the right life choices.
Work at fast-food restaurants, get some money, get your GED, go to college and get a real damn job if you want money.

 

[Royal Inferno]

@up, this has nothing to do with food, lol. Don't be so ignorant.

Soz, I was trying to cheer people up, but you just love ruining everything, don't you? I can't cheer people up when I'm said myself.

damn u evan ;'<

onthread: terrible news derp

 

[Daky]

Same here, this is my lowly opinion on this.
Fast-food jobs should be for high school dropouts, it should be for people who fail to make the right life choices.
Work at fast-food restaurants, get some money, get your GED, go to college and get a real damn job if you want money.

I'm a high school dropout and I make 19$/hour, wanna fight???

 

[poopsiedoodle]

I think they're stupid to think that that'll make their situation any better. Companies raise wages, people are paid more than they deserve, money is easier to get, and that leads to inflation and entitlement.

 

[Royal Inferno]

I just got myself a new signature

 

[Evan]

I'm a high school dropout and I make 19$/hour, wanna fight???

This is somewhat a hard-working high school drop out can earn. If you're a college student or whatever, you can make MUCH more than that.
Then again, what I'm basically saying is high school dropouts should be nowhere near what real graduates make.

And no, I'm not going to fight lol

 

[Royal Inferno]

This is somewhat a hard-working high school drop out can earn. If you're a college student or whatever, you can make MUCH more than that.
Then again, what I'm basically saying is high school dropouts should be nowhere near what real graduates make.

And no, I'm not going to fight lol

lol evan doesnt wanna fight

he scared ;<

 

[dream girl]

Personally I think this is a load of bullshit if you ask me. Yes, I feel that wages are a little too low these days, but that is on an across-the-board basis and certainly not limited to/in higher regards to the fast food industry. In all reality they are asking for a higher hourly rate than I got when I first started as an intern with 6 years of college behind me. I justified my salary as post-secondary education entry level, and in reality it was a modest salary for my location (ignoring my qualifications). The fast food industry isn't meant to be a career choice, you aren't supposed to sit cushy and make a large amount of money by doing ENTRY level work. It is supposed to be a pushing-off starting point, somewhere that will give you funds towards a higher goal/more worthwhile career.

Think of it as training wheels for the real world; it is a great first step that will open plenty of opportunities, but you have to take the training wheels off if you really want to be successful.

I'm all for raising how much people make, I respect that minimum wage isn't enough to live on and I know it is pretty much a bullshit number in this day and age. If you're willing to put out the effort, I believe anyone in any industry should be rewarded for their time and service. BUT I do not think 15$/hr is meant to be entitled at an entry level, it should be worked hard for in one way or another.

Also, in all reality I think this whole "strike" will be passed over as a joke of sorts. It's abysmally difficult to find a job right now, I'm certain there are tons of people who would happily take that minimum wage over being jobless/broke. It is all about what you want out of life and what you are willing to do to get it. Sometimes you have to crawl at the bottom before you can work your way to the top.

 

[Shinmaru]

This is somewhat a hard-working high school drop out can earn. If you're a college student or whatever, you can make MUCH more than that.
Then again, what I'm basically saying is high school dropouts should be nowhere near what real graduates make.

And no, I'm not going to fight lol

If you're a college student or whatever, you can make MUCH more than that.

That's a false pretense and it's a cancerous for a thought, it should be eliminated. You have no Idea, how many people go to college, graduates on their preferred field and still do not know anything. People should earn upon what they know, not because of long years of bottle studies. I have meet graduates on Doctor/Medicine mayors and it is sad that I know a little more than they do, and my mayor in BA Computers Repairs.

I for one, do not believe that after I graduate I'm promised a job, nor riches(I can get those on my own without College), I only do it, because I started it and I should finish it. nothing else.

If I regret something is ever starting to go to College, I should have instead taken my friend's advice and go to a Computer Technical College and get my license, that said friend is now earning $40/H working for Vicarious Vision. And most of what he knows, he learned it on his own and with working experience.

Final thoughts, College does not make a Professional, only you can, if you have a set of skills that you understand that can get you places, avoid College, focus on some Technical College, get your license and hone your skills. If your ambition is big you might work for a big company or make your own company.

I gave this same advice to my friend and now she is doing better than me.

 

[Evan]

That's a false pretense and it's a cancerous for a thought, it should be eliminated. You have no Idea, how many people go to college, graduates on their preferred field and still do not know anything. People should earn upon what they know, not because of long years of bottle studies. I have meet graduates on Doctor/Medicine mayors and it is sad that I know a little more than they do, and my mayor in BA Computers Repairs.

I for one, do not believe that after I graduate I'm promised a job, nor riches(I can get those on my own without College), I only do it, because I started it and I should finish it. nothing else.

If I regret something is ever starting to go to College, I should have instead taken my friend's advice and go to a Computer Technical College and get my license, that said friend is now earning $40/H working for Vicarious Vision. And most of what he knows, he learned it on his own and with working experience.

Final thoughts, College does not make a Professional, only you can, if you have a set of skills that you understand that can get you places, avoid College, focus on some Technical College, get your license and hone your skills. If your ambition is big you might work for a big company or make your own company.

I gave this same advice to my friend and now she is doing better than me.

I'm not saying you're guaranteed to get a job with a degree, but you're more likely. If I were an employer, if I had to choose between someone without extended education after high school and someone with extended education, it's obviously that I would choose the latter. The most important thing you need is to show that you have done additional learning in a specific field and show that you have some experience. Yes, this can be done without going to college at all, there are quite a few billionaires that dropped out of college. In my previous post, I used the term "college" because it was a general idea that extended education and skills is pretty much required to get a higher paying job. Anyways, my main point is this, high school dropouts, regardless of how much skills you have should not ever be paid more than the average high school graduates or college students and graduates. There is absolutely NO reason to drop out of high school other than being really stupid and lazy.

 

[Flatlander]

Eh Evan, there are always exceptions.
I know a few people that dropped out of high school to start their own business early.
High school doesn't help anyone other than people that are going to college, or need a high school diploma to get a job.
You can gain knowledge anywhere, and if you already know what field you are going to work in, and know you can make it without a diploma, then high school is literally a waste of time, because it teaches you almost nothing. (School is made for the average person, so that they can learn an average amount of information, and live an average life, with average intelligence)

 

[Daky]

I'm not saying you're guaranteed to get a job with a degree, but you're more likely. If I were an employer, if I had to choose between someone without extended education after high school and someone with extended education, it's obviously that I would choose the latter. The most important thing you need is to show that you have done additional learning in a specific field and show that you have some experience. Yes, this can be done without going to college at all, there are quite a few billionaires that dropped out of college. In my previous post, I used the term "college" because it was a general idea that extended education and skills is pretty much required to get a higher paying job. Anyways, my main point is this, high school dropouts, regardless of how much skills you have should not ever be paid more than the average high school graduates or college students and graduates. There is absolutely NO reason to drop out of high school other than being really stupid and lazy.

I'm a highschool dropout and I make 19$/hour. I also have bad sight, Lactose intolerance and Aspberger's syndrome. During highschool, my family were also; in debt (still are), had to move (because we were in debt), my mother had to stay in the hospital in total of 6 months under 2 years (When home, she was monitored by a nurse) and my father divorced my mother.

Just giving you a little insight (there's more) on why I quit highschool, fucking douche. I had a MILLION reasons to drop out of highschool and I'm not stupid, but you're clearly a fool.

Oh and since we're talking about highschool dropouts & fast food, look up Ray Kroc, dummy.

 

[Evan]

We're obviously on different paths with different opinions, there's no reason to start cursing at me. I still wholeheartedly believe people need to graduate high school or complete their GEDs (it doesn't have to be now, just get general education all completed when you can).

 

[Daky]

We're obviously on different paths with different opinions, there's no reason to start cursing at me. I still wholeheartedly believe people need to graduate high school or complete their GEDs (it doesn't have to be now, just get general education all completed when you can).

You indirectly called me really stupid and lazy based on pure bullshit and that I do not deserve my job because of it.

my main point is this, high school dropouts, regardless of how much skills you have should not ever be paid more than the average high school graduates or college students and graduates. There is absolutely NO reason to drop out of high school other than being really stupid and lazy.

 

[Evan]

Okay, yes, I did call those kind of people stupid and lazy, but if you actually plan on completing your GED, then you're not stupid and lazy; that's the way I meant. And nowhere I said you don't deserve your job. $19/hr isn't actually high-end, so stop trying to think I don't think you deserve it. If you went on to get something like $60-80 an hour without completing your GED, I'd be pretty stunned. I just disagree, not saying you don't deserve.

 

[Flatlander]

@Evan
You lost this one... getting a high school diploma or GED has nothing to do with laziness, intelligence, social status, or actually anything at all. Some of the most successful people in the world are drop-outs.

Truthfully the only thing high school is good for is to teach you about how to deal in a social environment when you are forced to interact with people all day. Which is VERY needed, but it has little to do with gaining knowledge you'll need for the future.