Ridin’ with Biden

[writer0327]

For a start a wage has to be something an adult can live off of. It's not easy and asking for an easy answer is just writing off the problem because it is "too hard" to figure out in a single, quick and sloppy forum post. A good place to start is raising the wage we have now so someone who works at McDonald's is not severely in debt and unable to progress in life.

I personally don't envision a time when a single adult will be able to afford to live alone making a McDonald's entry level salary, but that's exactly what people are looking for.

 

[moviedoors]

I personally don't envision a time when a single adult will be able to afford to live alone making a McDonald's entry level salary, but that's exactly what people are looking for.

It's really depressing that the idea of someone being able to sustain themselves alone in a modest apartment while working for a multi-billion dollar international corporation is unimaginable.

 

[writer0327]

It's really depressing that the idea of someone being able to sustain themselves alone in a modest apartment while working for a multi-billion dollar international corporation is unimaginable.

Individual McDonald's restaurants are owned and operated by franchisees, not by the multi-billion dollar corporation.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

 

[moviedoors]

Individual McDonald's restaurants are owned and operated by franchisees, not by the multi-billion dollar corporation.

A convenient way for them to exploit the working class. It's nonsense. McDonald's IS a global multi-billion dollar corporation. It's not a coincidence or an accident that so many of their employees are wage slaves. They know exactly what they're doing.

And can we talk about the disgusting "burger flipper" cliché? Do any of YOU want to flip burgers? To memorize a few dozen recipes? To work in an environment that reeks havoc on your skin? Where customers lose their **** because you forgot pickles while you work for scrapes? To also have to clean bathrooms and mop floors (McDonalds used to have dedicated janitors on staff, but don't tell anyone that)?

"But it's a high school job!"

Than why are they open 24 hours a day?

You're goddamn right I believe in paying these people a living wage.

 

[Lily Adler]

I'm still shocked that Dole is alive.

 

[moviedoors]

I'm still shocked that Dole is alive.

He's gotta be about 278 years old by know.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Dole was the McConnell of his era. He was Trump and Biden's age when he ran against Clinton in 1996. He's almost 100 years old!

 

[samsnee]

I personally don't envision a time when a single adult will be able to afford to live alone making a McDonald's entry level salary, but that's exactly what people are looking for.

Unfortunately not in a city at least.

 

[Marvolo]

A convenient way for them to exploit the working class. It's nonsense. McDonald's IS a global multi-billion dollar corporation. It's not a coincidence or an accident that so many of their employees are wage slaves. They know exactly what they're doing.

And can we talk about the disgusting "burger flipper" cliché? Do any of YOU want to flip burgers? To memorize a few dozen recipes? To work in an environment that reeks havoc on your skin? Where customers lose their **** because you forgot pickles while you work for scrapes? To also have to clean bathrooms and mop floors (McDonalds used to have dedicated janitors on staff, but don't tell anyone that)?

"But it's a high school job!"

Than why are they open 24 hours a day?

You're goddamn right I believe in paying these people a living wage.

Franchises aren't corporate. They are independent and local. The owner essentially pays McDonald's for the right to use McDonald's name, recipes, menu, suppliers, architecture, and merchandise. Beyond that the corporation doesn't involve itself with franchises and it doesn't decide what the franchise charges for food or what it pays its employees. The independent owner of the franchise does all that, and the owner of a franchise doesn't partake of or benefit from the McDonald's corporation's billions. The owner of the franchise doesn't get a paycheck from the McDonald's corporation. All wages come from the franchise which can be one single restaurant or multiple restaurants.

 

[Prison Mike]

What exactly is a living wage? Is it basically the bare minimum to survive on, like barely above the poverty level?

 

[Teelie]

A living wage is something that people aren't living in debt because of. A living wage is not the solution by itself but it is a start. The deeper problems in this country also need addressing. Going to college should not put you into debt for 20+ years. Going to the hospital should not put you into debt potentially for life. Having a safety net for the poorest is essential. It is not a "hand out" like the conservatives love to call it, not when they give rich corporations and rich people all kinds of tax breaks. The rich are way too coddled in this country.

Look at Texas. Having a $10,000 light bill just to stay alive in freezing weather? How in the hell is anyone supposed to afford that? This country has a lot of problems. Being able to live without fear of becoming homeless because you can't afford the electricity bill should not be one of them.

What a living wage is starts with treating people like they are not disposable and replaceable with another cheap, disposable person. That is how fast food places treat their employees. That might be a "teenager's job" but as moviedoors said, why are they open 24 hours a day? Why are they paying their longterm employees wages barely not enough to survive on? So what if they franchise? Part of that problem is the franchise fees and the way Corporate McDonalds does nothing to ensure their franchised employees having a wage they can live off of.

That's a lazy cop out. They make those billions off the efforts of countless millions of employees who often do not have any other choice and cannot afford to quit that job to find something better and McDonald's knows it. They are caged into this system that doesn't pay enough.

 

[terry78]

Basically you don't get rich by paying your employees well.

 

[moviedoors]

Basically you don't get rich by paying your employees well.

Sure you can, you just won’t get disgustingly, obscenely, could-never-spend-it-all-in-a-dozen-lifetimes rich.

 

[terry78]

Who just wants to be plain rich?

 

[Prison Mike]

They’ll just pass the cost down to the customer then.

 

[moviedoors]

They’ll just pass the cost down to the customer then.

 

[Teelie]

Oh god, pay an extra 27¢ for a Big Mac and give employees a living wage? I can't afford that!

 

[Holy Slapper]

We Nordic countries prefer the term "social democracies". Capitalist welfare societies.

 

[moviedoors]

Biden seems set to pick fight over Rahm Emanuel

 

[Prison Mike]

In order for a living wage to work in the US, a lot of other things need to change first. A single mom of three requires a different income than a 16 year old in order to truly live comfortably. Raising the minimum wage to $15 is just putting a band aid on the problem, similar to forgiving 50k of student debt but not addressing the root cause of the problem. I think it all comes down to affordability of education and specifically the right’s demonization of college education.

 

[InCali]

WRT to this whole McDonald's thing, I'm going to speak to this as a long time union member/activist.

If you've wasted enough time reading my posts, you probably know I've been on and led bargaining teams that have negotiated multi 10s of million dollar contracts with the University of California and gotten very, very substantial wage increases for thousands of employees. I'll have to double check, but last time I looked, the University of California withstood my left wing onslaught and continues in its stated mission of teaching, research, and community service (that's sarcasm for those of you who didn't guess).

The myth that you can't pay people a decent, livable wage and run a business, is just that....a myth. Not only is it a myth, it is shown to be false by more examples than I can possibly add here (though my sometimes friend and sometimes debate competitor @moviedoors could probably make a good run at it. ). In fact, paying good wages is the best way to strengthen the economy. Look at what happens to local economies when a WalMart opens in a community. It leads to low wages and decimation of local businesses.

If what you mean by a good economy is the accumulation of wealth by a small percentage of the population, low wages is the way to go. If what you mean by a good economy is more money in the pocket of consumers and a robust demand for goods and services that increase the quality of our lives, I suggest paying people, at the very MINIMUM, a living wage that allows them to have decent housing, healthy food, and some comfort and entertainment in their non-working hours. Rising inequality in income distribution IS the cause of a bad economy, it just depends on what your definition of a "good" economy is. Every, single job in this country could be a union job and not only wouldn't it hurt the economy, it would help it.

Also, there are economic models that would provide a better economy than private industry, but that's another discussion.

 

[Schlosser85]

Biden seems set to pick fight over Rahm Emanuel

Emanuel and Pelosi helped Democrats get back into power in 2006 for the first time since the Gingrich "revolution". He's abrasive but he got **** done. Frankly part of me would rather have him in the Cabinet instead of an ambassador position (maybe have him as Transportation Secretary and Buttigieg as an ambassador instead of the other way around), but oh well.

 

[InCali]

Biden seems set to pick fight over Rahm Emanuel

I really, really hope he doesn't do this. I wouldn't consider it the end of the world, but it's a bad move. The Rahm Emanuels of the world need to be marginalized. He's like the fixer you send in when when you need someone to do a dirty, unethical job that no one else can stand to do. Just figure out a better way to do the job.

 

[moviedoors]

In order for a living wage to work in the US, a lot of other things need to change first. A single mom of three requires a different income than a 16 year old in order to truly live comfortably. Raising the minimum wage to $15 is just putting a band aid on the problem, similar to forgiving 50k of student debt but not addressing the root cause of the problem. I think it all comes down to affordability of education and specifically the right’s demonization of college education.

Well, in the case of things like single mothers, that’s where robust social programs come in, like financial aid, food, childcare. The minimum wage increase doesn’t have to fix EVERYTHING for it to still be a vital necessity.