Thursday, April 2, 2015

Another Reason to Avoid McDonald's...... besides the Crappy Food


By Robert Janicki

Well, it looks like McDonald's has caved in to the pressures of the liberal mob of labor activists.  If you didn't think much of McDonald's before, I can't imagine this will improve your outlook for Mickey D's.
"McDonald's will raise the wages it pays to its lowest-earning workers to $1 above the local minimum wage, in the latest sign of wage pressures increasing in the U.S.
The move, which Wall Street Journal reported first Wednesday, will not apply to the fast-food chain's franchises, which make up the vast majority of its business. Instead it will affect 90,000 workers at the 1,500 restaurants it owns in the U.S.
By lifting the minimum wage it pays on July 1 and raising wages throughout the payscale up to restaurant managers, McDonald's will raise the average wage for its hourly employees to above $10 by the end of 2015, the company said...."
Wages are determined by local labor wage markets.  That's the free market concept of capitalism.  Minimum wage jobs were never intended to support families and the vast majority of those working in minimum wage jobs are single and living at home with a family income above the average $50K per year.  Meanwhile, liberal activists would have everyone, mostly the economic illiterate that walk among us, to  believe that greedy business owners are using these minimum wage earners as slaves, when in fact employers are paying what is necessary to attract unskilled labor in their labor market area.

Minimum wage jobs are entry level learning experience opportunities for teenagers, college students and others under 25 years of age, requiring virtually no experience and minimum skills involving basic math and the ability to verbally communicate with co-workers and customers beyond crude sign language attempts like a chimp might make.    

The liberal line always brings in imaginary families of four with the minimum wage earner over 40, as examples of the absolute necessity of raising the minimum wage.  This is the liberal's method to emotionally shame opponents of artificially instituted minimum wage levels in order to dominate the debate among low information types oblivious to the economics labor wage markets.

What will happen over time is predictable.  Employers will hire less workers to accomplish the same work product as before any minimum wage increase.  And, in an age of technology, employers will most certainly turn to technology to replace workers.  So, in the end, minimum wage increases will result in a decrease in the numbers of those employed in these unskilled jobs and an increase in automation technology to accomplish the same work product.  

Of course, those engaged in automation technology innovation and development will be handsomely rewarded for their years of education and experience in their technical fields of endeavor, unlike hamburger flippers at McDonald's, who are more interested in agitating and striking for higher minimum wages in a shrinking labor market of their entry level jobs.  So much for developing experience in the wonderful world of work. 

Perhaps they can seek jobs as community activists in Occupy This or That movements. 
Wait!  Those jobs traditionally pay less than the prevailing labor wage rate.  Never mind.

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Rob Janicki is a retired educator, strong supporter of the 2nd amendment and all around good guy, as well as owner/operator of the website Wired Right  and owes me 20 bucks.