A couple weeks ago I was starving and short on time, so I ended up running around the corner to McDonald’s. I almost always bring my lunch to work, but that day I had planned a lunch meeting, which unfortunately (for my stomach) was cancelled. With little motivation to walk more than a block in the 90 degree heat and pouring rain (what a great weather combo!) my decision to eat at the golden arches was quickly formed around two important factors: 1-lack of an umbrella and 2-scaffolding that stretches from my office to McDonald’s door (thanks be to over budget NYC construction projects that last for years at a time!).
When I got to McDonald’s there were a lot of people waiting, but the lines were moving quickly and efficiently. The manager was timing how long it took for each order to be placed and how quickly the meals were prepared and handed off to customers. I was impressed by her excitement and eagerness, not only to do the job, but to do it “right”. She was praising her team for a job well done and had a lot of enthusiasm for the work (they even had little chants-I don’t remember what they were, but I remember thinking it was nice).
The cashiers were pleasant and generally appeared to have a good rapport with each other, their manager and the customers. Nobody was dragging butt around, complaining, flirting with each other or texting on their phones – Sadly that’s the experience I’ve had recently at several quick service eateries.
So why am I rambling on about fast-food? Well, you might recall that in late July, thousands of fast-food employees went on strike, demanding higher pay ($15 per hour) and the right to unionize. And it looks like they are going to go on strike again on August 29th.
While $15 per hour (double the federal minimum wage-in case you’re unfamiliar) might sound like a lot of money for a fast-food job, it’s not really a liveable wage in some US cities (NYC, San Fransisco and Los Angeles come to mind.) To put this all in perspective for non-city dwellers, the Wall Street Journal reported last month, that the average rent cost for a NYC apartment is over $3000 per month. At $7.25 an hour, full-time fast food employees are making roughly $290 per week, or $1,250 per month!
Yes I understand that a lot of McDonald’s employees are students just entering the work force, but some of them are not. Some of them have families to support and you can bet they aren’t supporting their families well on $7.25 per hour. Figuring in NYC’s exorbitant taxes, a fast-food employee making $7.25 per hour would have to work about an hour and a half to afford a full-price value meal at his/her own restaurant, ekk!
Opponents of the pay increase report that raising the hourly salary for fast-food employees will mean higher food costs for consumers (no pun intended). So what do you think? Would you pay $2 more for your value meal if it translated to better pay and a better standard of living for fast-food employees?
Image: Dave_Mcmt