Thanks To 'Fight For $15' Minimum Wage, McDonald's Unveils Job-Replacing Self-Service Kiosks

[st0wandgrow]

There shareholders are people who lent them money so they would get interest on it. The amount of interest a company pays determines the amount of working capital it gets from investors.

Companies also dont want to piss off the public or do things that are bad for public relations.

You like to talk about one side of the coin while pretending the other side doesnt exist.

What is the sole purpose of a publicly traded company?

 

[Justin-case]

The installation of kiosks by McD is a red herring for those opposing the minimum wage. McD was going to do it anyway. It just makes too much sense to enter orders using a screen rather than having an employee do the same for a customer.

Regarding your objections to increasing the minimum wage, it's easy to say "I know somebody who said...". The restaurant biz is incredibly difficult and I'm sure that there were other factors that led to her decision to step out of the game. It sounds like she's bitter-- her $20 burger comment is off the rails. Denmark has a $20/hr minimum wage and a McD burger there sells for about 50 cents more than in the US, where the minimum wage now stands at about $7.25. Just saying that there is a lot more rhetoric around this subject than reality.

The effect of minimum wage on employment and wages is mostly an academic theoretical topic. Very little hard data exists. The right uses some really old and disproven theory that claims jobs will disappear. Studies have never shown this to be true, most notably one by the Congressional Budget Office http://cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/44995-MinimumWage.pdf

Seattle is staging wage hikes to eventually reach $15. This is a real world situation that has drawn ire and attention from the conservative right who pounce on every little statement as "proof" of a disaster. The experiment is in its early stages and in fact not an Armageddon nor a paradise for workers in the lower wage brackets. A pizza operation closing down made national headlines in the right wing bloggosphere. I'm not belittling a small business owner for closing but don't understand why her operation couldn't make it while most businesses are doing fine through the transition. A study on Seattle area grocery stores showed very small effect if any on prices compared to stores outside of the Seattle area who aren't affected by the wage hikes. Seattle is doing a good job of documenting the effects of this increase. They are only one year into the real world trial and so far, hopes by right wingers of disaster are met with disappointment on their part.
https://evans.uw.edu/sites/default/files/HOvIV 1-27-16.pdf

No objection to wage increases at all, here in Cali I think it's ten or eleven and slated to increase annually till it hits fifteen. No bitterness, a real sweet heart, she's made adjustments to off set some cost but, is still hoping to sell the business. Oh and the burger is already 13$ with side, not far off of twenty. I live in a very rural area too,the main Street has become a ghost town.

 

[Fogdog]

What happens when overnight skilled workers are making the same pay as burger boy? See that hamburger produced by a minimum wage worker you posted, imagine an EMT with the same pay as the people producing that garbage...

I don't know what happens when minimum wage increases to the level of an EMT's wages. Of course, EMT's also receive benefits, so the actual salary would be higher. Probably their wages will go up to retain them. I also suspect that few EMT's will opt for flipping burgers without benefits and work for the really inept managers who run those places. But then again, if a few people would rather not work in the higher stress job and find life is better flipping burgers then what's wrong with that?

In my earlier post, I went over the fact that the case for increased inflation or job losses with increases in the minimum wage is a myth. For example, other countries pay much more for minimum wage and their economies are doing just fine. Seattle hasn't seen this effect either.

Using Denmark as an example, 50 cents more for a fast food order so that the establishment can pay a living wage for people preparing food on 40 hours of work is completely worth it.

 

[Fogdog]

No objection to wage increases at all, here in Cali I think it's ten or eleven and slated to increase annually till it hits fifteen. No bitterness, a real sweet heart, she's made adjustments to off set some cost but, is still hoping to sell the business. Oh and the burger is already 13$ with side, not far off of twenty. I live in a very rural area too,the main Street has become a ghost town.

She was making a premium burger if she was selling them for $13. With a side you say? Then she was maybe selling them for $9.50? That's still a lot compared to other burger joints. That McD burger I put up a picture for earlier went for $1.29. In-N-Out's most expensive "Double Double burger" sells for 7.84 as a combo with fries. Competition in the fast food industry is intense. So, I don't know why but your friend's prices were pretty high to begin with.

 

[Rrog]

Some folks are born smart. Some are not. Some have said that we are divided into two groups - the smart and the poor. Why does being born a little less intelligent mean you have to suffer worse than a pet all your life? Without basic jobs you have three options left for many very descent people:

1- Welfare
2- Prison
3- The Military

The threat of #1 and #2 force people into #3

 

[Flaming Pie]

Perhaps we can use "Terror of the senses" An unmanned kiosk is an incubator of germs and drop off point for Anthrax and other means of population control. Laws can be crafted with team work.
Sadly corporations are more organized but never complain about Communism.

Sanitary wipes? They have em at grocery stores.

 

[Justin-case]

She was making a premium burger if she was selling them for $13. With a side you say? Then she was maybe selling them for $9.50? That's still a lot compared to other burger joints. That McD burger I put up a picture for earlier went for $1.29. In-N-Out's most expensive "Double Double burger" sells for 7.84 as a combo with fries. Competition in the fast food industry is intense. So, I don't know why but your friend's prices were pretty high to begin with.

Yes, fresh local and organic ingredients, yummy! Comparable to any city prices though, definitely cheaper drinks. Unfortunately ,I think our county never completely recovered from the recession.

 

[NLXSK1]

What is the sole purpose of a publicly traded company?

To obtain a good return on its investment for the investors/shareholders.

 

[londonfog]

Yes, fresh local and organic ingredients, yummy! Comparable to any city prices though, definitely cheaper drinks. Unfortunately ,I think our county never completely recovered from the recession.

I could never pay that price for a McD, Burger King or any joint like that, But if you can make me a quality burger I will pay a nice price. No cheap bullshit.

 

[NLXSK1]

I could never pay that price for a McD, Burger King or any joint like that, But if you can make me a quality burger I will pay a nice price. No cheap bullshit.

So you wouldnt even buy the product at the price it is being forced up to...

Classic mindless liberal thinking here...

 

[londonfog]

So you wouldnt even buy the product at the price it is being forced up to...

Classic mindless liberal thinking here...

I know your lifestyle requires that you eat lots and lots of fast food shit. I try to avoid. My wife is an excellent cook and I can burn in the kitchen as well. I do enjoy a quality burger and do know some local ma and pa diners were I can get it. You enjoy that Bic Mac that you gulp down in your vehicle whilst you try to make a couple of dollars.

 

[UncleBuck]

I know your lifestyle requires that you eat lots and lots of fast food shit. I try to avoid. My wife is an excellent cook and I can burn in the kitchen as well. I do enjoy a quality burger and do know some local ma and pa diners were I can get it. You enjoy that Bic Mac that you gulp down in your vehicle whilst you try to make a couple of dollars.

...their fries are yummy!!

 

[st0wandgrow]

To obtain a good return on its investment for the investors/shareholders.

Exactly. They have to grow. Stagnation is not acceptable. Everything else is secondary to them. Nothing stands in the way of growth, and that is a dangerous position.

 

[twostrokenut]

well, you've concocted a nice "truthy" explanation for one country, now all you have to do is figure out a nice "truthy" explanation for about 4 dozen more now.

how the hell do they all pay a living minimum wage and yet have about the same price on their big mac?

it's like magnets.

The results will be the same. You idiots love to point to dumb shit to prove your points. When debunked you move the goal posts.
You have all been pointing to OZ for years on this one and gun control.
You can name all 4 dozen countries you are referencing and I might take a look. Prolly wont though and surely am not going looking for it.

 

[SneekyNinja]

Exactly. They have to grow. Stagnation is not acceptable. Everything else is secondary to them. Nothing stands in the way of growth, and that is a dangerous position.

It's not even just necessarily the companies themselves; unrestricted and aggressive high volume trading can have more subtle negative effects on pension funds and such which cause wide ripples on a more macro scale.

 

[UncleBuck]

The results will be the same. You idiots love to point to dumb shit to prove your points. When debunked you move the goal posts.
You have all been pointing to OZ for years on this one and gun control.
You can name all 4 dozen countries you are referencing and I might take a look. Prolly wont though and surely am not going looking for it.

start with denmark.

min wage there is about $20 an hour, as opposed to our $7.25 (2.75 times as much).

their big big mac costs $5.15 to our $4.80 (7% more).

good luck finding something "truthy" to explain that one away, boy.

 

[SneekyNinja]

start with denmark.

min wage there is about $20 an hour, as opposed to our $7.25 (2.75 times as much).

their big big mac costs $5.15 to our $4.80 (7% more).

good luck finding something "truthy" to explain that one away, boy.

Alot of things in Denmark are vastly more expensive tho.

It's difficult to compare a country of such disgusting excess to a far more fiscally conservative and less consumerist country like Denmark.

People there actually give a shit about each other.

Beautiful country, good food, albeit rather cold in winter.

 

[churchhaze]

So these people are supposed to find better uses of their time? Doing what exactly? Maybe the former sandwich maker can just transition into investment banking?

WTF? You do realize that, throughout history, most jobs have sucked? But the people who did them at least got a wage to pay their rent and feed their children. But we just elected a President on a "I'm tired of working hard so that other people don't have to" mentality.

So what the living fuck are you going to do with the increasing number of families living in poverty!?

Are you saying things are worse off now for the poor now than they were 50 years ago? 100 years ago? 1000 years ago? I'm honestly not sure what you're saying. Technology has improved our quality of life so much that even the poor now are living like kings of the past. The thing about poverty is that it's not "how hard we work" that solves poverty, but "how productive we are". Doing work that machines could easily do is NOT productive at all. It's a waste of human life. Despite all the talk about poverty, we're the fattest country. We don't know real poverty in the US.

Yes, I'm sorry for changing my answer. I was talking hypothetically at first, but realized we were talking about a more concrete topic, mcdonalds workers.

Edit: All I'm trying to say is that people have been claiming that technology would ruin everyone's lives for hundreds of years and look where we are now. It's just fear-mongering. Change is good.

 

[churchhaze]

Off topic, I find it funny how liberal channels think I'm a right wing nut, while right wing nuts call me libtard. (there's no table for me in the lunch room)

 

[Fogdog]

Are you saying things are worse off now for the poor now than they were 50 years ago? 100 years ago? 1000 years ago? I'm honestly not sure what you're saying. Technology has improved our quality of life so much that even the poor now are living like kings of the past. The thing about poverty is that it's not "how hard we work" that solves poverty, but "how productive we are". Doing work that machines could easily do is NOT productive at all. It's a waste of human life. Despite all the talk about poverty, we're the fattest country. We don't know real poverty in the US.

Yes, I'm sorry for changing my answer. I was talking hypothetically at first, but realized we were talking about a more concrete topic, mcdonalds workers.

Agree with you about the status of poor people in the US being better than that of the poor throughout much of history. The US isn't tops in today's world for how it treats its poor. We are pretty shitty compared to other industrialized western countries.

That said, tech is a mixed blessing for the poor. Some are displaced from jobs and other's jobs are improved by tech. The condition of the poor along with everybody else in our society is driven by increases in productivity, much of which comes from implementing new tech or better ways of using existing tech. This is not an equal distribution of improving conditions. For the past 50 years or so, the wealthy have seen out sized gains in their condition compared to the lower third of incomes in this country who have declined in social economic status during the same interval. For example, a blue collar worker 50 years ago could raise a family on his salary alone. For most of today's working poor, that is not possible today.

While I agree with you in concept that it's an overall good that people are freed from menial labor by tech, the fact of how people are faring on the lower end of the income distribution say otherwise. This is not to say we should all go back to pulling our own carts. I'm just saying that we haven't been growing equitably for a long time and the differences are starting to crack the society apart. I was hoping to see a shift away from past trends in income disparity but with the advent of Trump's administration I don't think so.