The guy who owns the franchise my nephew worked at in high school drove an actual Rolls Royce. He owned a few, but goddamn. The guy who owned the franchise I worked at 20 years earlier owned like 3 houses or something and flew planes as a hobby (idk if he owned one).
Excuse me for not giving a shit about a financial blow to people like them.
Would you pay $20 for a Big Mac? …though they’ll probably automate the cooking and cashier positions, so they don’t have to pay an employee what I make as a robotics technician.
Are you ignorant or what? There’s proof worldwide that paying your workers decent wages doesn’t cost more. Also, imagine what would happen if workers actually had money to spend… Guess where they’d spend.
No, I wouldn’t. That’s why they won’t price it at $20. They’re gonna have to figure something else out or just have a complete negative loss in the state. You can try to price gouge people but they’ll likely just go somewhere else. This is some bs thinking through and through
So it turns out that you are underpaid just like these McDonald’s employees. Unless by robotics technician you mean something like a roomba repairman. Maybe support your fellow laborers when they are fighting for fair wages. It shouldn’t be a competition.
If, like me, you’re concerned that franchisees may not be able to raise prices and offset this $250k in yearly expenses, worry no more because they totally can.
This whole complaint is nonsense. That’s a trivial markup per food item.
Well, their problem is they already planned to increase prices with zero added benefit to employees or customers. Asking them to actually contribute something in exchange for their gains? Psshhh
Yes, but now they’ll increase them twice, or twice as much. I know, I know, there are economic studies that say otherwise and the general consensus on the left is that prices don’t increase when wages do. I recognize that personal experience doesn’t hold a candle to scientific information. Yet, every single time I’ve seen wages go up in my entire life, the prices soon follow, wiping out the improvements for minimum wage workers and further eroding spending power for the middle class. The poor stay just as poor, the middle class shrinks a little, and the wealthy aren’t impacted at all. I’ve read studies that say differently, but it’s pretty hard to ignore a lifetime of experience. Now please recognize that I’m not advocating against a wage increase. I’m advocating for a law alongside the wage increase that blocks any associated price increases.
What would also help is an actually meaningful wage increase that isn’t just a handful of crumbs thrown out to give politicians something to brag on for their campaigns. Something that actually keeps pace with the cost of living increases, and makes up for decades of failing to make such increases.
I suspect your right, though, that it will always end up with the wealthy even wealthier, until we address them directly and start making laws with teeth that curb their hoarding of that wealth and stomp on their ability to influence policy with it.
Restricting your own wage increase in the hope that companies won’t add to inflation is very much like trying to be extra nice to an abusing partner in the hope that they won’t hit you.
I know that you later wrote that you’re in favor of a law restricting their ability to increase prices so please take this as an aside.
In this case, the franchisees (small business owners) are saying the big business (McDonalds, which makes its money off of real estate and franchise fees) is going to be fine but they (the people that make money from owning a restaurant) are in trouble.
For many of them, it’s true; they didn’t consider whether they could open this business if they had to pay a living wage. Unfortunately, that’s not our problem, but it won’t be a problem for McDonalds either.
Not the way their business works… I think that franchising is an innately predatory business model and in need of severe legal reform. Let’s not ask McD to do it, let’s make them
Good. I hope they go out of business and the owners have to cry themselves to sleep. I hope they have to sell everything they own before having to work a minimum wage job.
And? Of course it’ll cost them money. They have been hoarding pay increases for years. 8f your business model doesn’t support paying a decent wage, your business model sucks.
That’s what it says, but it’s just marketing. Capitalists don’t actually believe in fair competition. They believe in themselves having all the stuff, not anyone else, by any means necessary.
Oh boo hoo, cry me a fucking river you fat, greasy suits. You’ve been taking advantage of workers since inception. You can absolutely afford to pay your workers $20/hr, you just won’t have as much profit. So what? You’ll still make ridiculous money. America is disgusting. I’m just disgusted with all the inequality. People are battling every day just to survive, and these corporate fucks are crying while wiping their tears with $100 bills and the shirts off the backs of their employees. Fuck off.
McDonald’s operates in many, many countries, several of which require minimum wage way higher than what they pay workers in the US. I’m sure they’ll be fine.
BS. They said the same thing about $15, then COVID forced it on them (and presumably also raised their own costs for supplies), and it’s been fine. I think my McDs charges 1.25 for a soda now instead of a dollar.
The group said the costs “simply cannot be absorbed by the business model.”
They can do business, just not be as profitable if they can’t pay slave wages. The problem here is in the quote… they don’t want to change the model where the franchisee’s earn a little less and their crews can actually afford rent.
Why the heck should the franchisee be footing the bill? Make corporate McDonald’s pay for it. Surely they’ve made enough money off ice cream machines by now to afford it…
The irony of you asking for smarts to be considered in regards to a mega billion dollar corp, who can more than afford this change for the entire country, let alone just California, is astounding while you are commenting the stupidest crap about “free markets” in relation to this news. It is hilariously pedantic…
There is literally nothing incorrect with the statement “enforced minimum wages go against the free market philosophy” and the statement itself makes no claim one way or the other about their personal views. It’s just pointing out a factually incorrect claim. Ironically enough, your paragraph reply is the hilariously pedantic part
Without doxxing yourself, can I ask where? I live in one of the lowest COL states and McDonalds managers are still advertised at least $18/hr or more. Even the part time employees usually start around $14 from the signs outside the store.
I think people know, but it’s going to be like they treat landlords. Ideologically opposed. EDIT: thanks for the downvote for a neutral prediction. I’d like to thank the Academy, Spez, and users like you.
Exactly, they shure as shit don’t have a problem giving their “food” away now. The truth is most likely that telling their investors that they won’t make so much money will be a devastating financial blow.
In our local fast foods most places are already advertising at least $19 hour for new hires. Is also over $20 for a kids meal and one adult meal “deal”, which takes less than 5-6 minutes to sell me.
I mean, my kid worked at a McD and got so much free food and not the stuff they are about to throw, but he would straight up make himself a quarter pounder combo, and then make me one fresh for free as many times as he wanted. He even would stop by on his off days, walk in and cook himself something and they didn’t care because of how much money they brought in. It was stupid and they should definitely raise the salaries of their employees instead of just showering them with free McD food.
