Edit: Before someone says something dumb. How did people survive before franchises again? Did everyone starve and die?
Not every restaurant survived then, either. If you got rid of franchises, you still wouldn’t be getting rid of everyone who wants to run a restaurant. People will still choose one over another and the one people aren’t choosing to patronize will go under.
Just because it’s independent doesn’t mean the owner isn’t just as greedy. Remember: every major corporation started off as a small, independent business. No business starts off as a megacorp.
I’ve lived through the same conditions myself, but I still have the advantage of being able to look at history and see that from 1955 when it started until the 80’s, the average McDonald’s franchise worker still was paid a living wage for their respective time periods.
The problem isn’t the model of business. It’s the greed of the people who run the business. The only laws necessary to fix this problem are keeping minimum wage up with inflation and the cost of living. If $16/hour isn’t a living wage (such as it is in California), the minimum needs to be higher. If the business can not provide that, they can not afford the cost of doing business and deserve to go out of business.
The wage problem is not caused by the franchise model. It’s not even exclusive to franchised businesses; it’s practically every single business across all sectors. From retail and customer service, to tech and medical care positions. If they’re not compelled to pay you enough to survive, they won’t. The libertarian idea that businesses will self-regulate is a delusion that doesn’t happen in reality. They must be compelled through law to be safe and fair or they’re just going to do whatever they can get away with.
“If you can make $20/hour at Taco Bell, with no experience, how much money do you think I’m going to have to pay a cook, who actually has experience?” Stedman continued. “I have to compete with that. Worse, I have to compete for somebody who has zero cooking experience. None, none at all!”
OH GOD, WE CAN’T EXPLOIT THE LABOR ANYMORE. WOE IS US. PLEASE GOD SHOW SOME SYMPATHY FOR OUR GREAT BURDEN OF NOT BEING ABLE TO EXPLOIT THE DESPERATE ANYMORE!
I mean the difference between them and they employees is that they can sell their restaurant when they want to quit at a good profit while their employees have to leave with only the clothes on their back.
Not necessarily. Many restaurants lease the space and profit margins can be tight. It’s not some golden goose to own a restaurant, unless it’s super popular and you always have customers… Or sell lots of beer/liquor.
krcrtv.com
Top