Rant #25 – Fast Food Wages
Fast food workers are striking, demanding a $15 an hour minimum wage, which is double what the minimum wage currently is. Are you kidding me? And sites like this are making like this is a sane idea. I get that the minimum wage should be increased, and I think $10 would be fair but on what planet is flipping burgers worth $15 an hour. Here’s an idea, don’t work at a place that was made for high school kids to make beer and cigarette money or red bull and kale chips or whatever the fuck kids are buying these days.
![](http://cdn.ph.upi.com/collection/pv/upi/7877/ff75d41bfaa1ade52d5c5392dbcb966b/Fast-food-workers-protest-in-New-York-Chicago_1_1.jpg)
It’s not like the wages at McDonalds were a surprise. These people applied, interviewed, trained and now work at a place that doesn’t pay enough. Did these people go through all that, never once asking or being told what the wage is, get their check and be like ‘holy shit! I can’t even afford the free rent in my parents basement, oh well I guess I’ll work here another five years while complaining about it on facebook’. These same people could bus tables at a place like Outback or Fridays for more money. If they are going to get $15 an hour I want $45 an hour. Here’s what’s going to happen if you can get $15 working at McDonalds:
1. People are going to say ‘you know what? fuck college and the 100k debt I’ll have when I leave. Then they’ll work at McDonalds and now the McDonalds lifers are out of a job because they are replaced by people who are more qualified or,
2. The price of a big mac, which averages $4.56 will go up $1.28 to $5.27 and that’s before you get their shitty fries. Feel like paying over $10 for a ‘value’ meal? No one does and sales will drop forcing the stores to downsize or,
3. Fast food restaurants will figure out that a robot can do the job better and listen when you say I don’t want any god damn pickles on my tiny grade f piece of shit burger and literally replace these people with robots resulting in people actually getting their correct orders…oh and a bunch of homeless ex-fast food workers.
Here’s some ideas that are better and more realistic than striking for a 100% raise; get a job at an actual restaurant and make actual money, go to school so you can get a higher paying job, or roll down the windows of a car that’s running in a garage and take a long nap.
These are some of the wealthiest companies on earth… they can absorb a big increase in wages without passing costs to their customers. McDonalds doesn’t need your tears. The US minimum wage is 7.25 with a big mac averages 4.20 In Australia, its $10.29 and the mac is $4.98, In Canada, the wage averages 11 bucks and a mac is five something.