Quote

Congress could more than double the federal minimum wage without doing serious harm to the fast-food industry, according to a report from economists at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In a hypothetical scenario in which the minimum wage gradually rose from $7.25 per hour to $15, the authors of the report found that fast-food companies would be able to “fully absorb” the increase without limiting its profit margin.

The industry could absorb increased labor costs, the report contends, by reducing turnover and slightly increasing prices. Reducing turnover would theoretically increase the productivity of the employees, therefore reducing the increase in labor costs.

“In terms of policy implications, our results offer a straightforward conclusion,” the report says. “Achieving a $15 federal minimum wage within the U.S., phased in over four years, should be seen as a realistic prospect."

The $15 figure was not selected at random: It is the wage floor that protesting fast-food workers have been demanding for more than two years as part of a nationwide campaign backed by the labor union SEIU. Thanks in part to labor movement pressure, Seattle and San Francisco have approved a $15 minimum wage in the past year, and various other cities and states have raised their wage floors above $7.25 an hour, the current federal minimum.

Industry groups such as the International Franchise Association have denounced the demands for a $15 wage floor as irresponsible.

“Mandating wages would lead to higher prices for consumers, lower foot traffic and sales for franchise owners, and ultimately, lost jobs and opportunities for employees to become managers or franchise owners,” said International Franchise Association President and CEO Steve Caldeira in August. “The franchise industry is a proven job creator and career builder, yet efforts to double the minimum wage to $15 would clearly jeopardize opportunities for existing and prospective employees."

In other parts of the world, the fast-food industry pays its lowest-wage employees considerably more. Burger King and McDonald’s employees in Denmark, for example, tend to earn at least $20 per hour. In Australia the standard minimum wage is AU $16.87, or $13.39 in U.S. dollars.

Quote (Skinned @ Jan 29 2015 07:36pm)

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/1/23/report-fast-food-industry-could-survive-15-minimum-wage.html



For people interested in research and journalism and stuff.

Quote (nobrow @ Jan 29 2015 06:49pm)

Vaginal fluid is more slippery, not like you would know.

Quote (thundercock @ 29 Jan 2015 23:56)

I have no problem with people getting paid $15 bucks an hour as long as they lay off half the work force and make the remainder work twice as hard.

I've had 4 hourly wages in my life.

Cashier - $5.25 per hour
Stocker/sales at Office Depot = $7.75 per hour
College grader for physics = $8.50 per hour
Engineering intern - $21.00 per hour ($22.50 the following year)

Out of all those jobs, the only one I felt underpaid in was the grading job because it actually took some skill to figure out wtf the students were doing when they got a problem wrong.

Quote (Skinned @ Jan 29 2015 09:36pm)

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/1/23/report-fast-food-industry-could-survive-15-minimum-wage.html



For people interested in research and journalism and stuff.

Quote (Santara @ 30 Jan 2015 06:40)

@ bold: you know what that means? Increased youth unemployment. More young people going further into their lives on average without gaining job skills with which to advance their lives. Look at the youth unemployment rate in France (~25% - 2.5 times the main rate) or Denmark (11.4% - almost 3 times the main rate), while the US has a smaller divide (12.4% - 2 times the main rate).

@ second bold: Stop acting like flipping burgers is a career. It's incredibly low-skilled.

Quote (Santara @ Jan 30 2015 06:40am)

@ bold: you know what that means? Increased youth unemployment. More young people going further into their lives on average without gaining job skills with which to advance their lives. Look at the youth unemployment rate in France (~25% - 2.5 times the main rate) or Denmark (11.4% - almost 3 times the main rate), while the US has a smaller divide (12.4% - 2 times the main rate).

@ second bold: Stop acting like flipping burgers is a career. It's incredibly low-skilled.

Quote (thundercock @ Jan 29 2015 11:56pm)

I have no problem with people getting paid $15 bucks an hour as long as they lay off half the work force and make the remainder work twice as hard.

I've had 4 hourly wages in my life.

Cashier - $5.25 per hour
Stocker/sales at Office Depot = $7.75 per hour
College grader for physics = $8.50 per hour
Engineering intern - $21.00 per hour ($22.50 the following year)

Out of all those jobs, the only one I felt underpaid in was the grading job because it actually took some skill to figure out wtf the students were doing when they got a problem wrong.

Quote (PlasmaSnake101 @ Jan 29 2015 11:58pm)

Quote (Skinned @ Jan 30 2015 04:37am)

Why would they have to obey your arbitrary little "fire half the workforce rule"? That is stupid. They probably couldn't get back with half the work force.....and really, fuck, don't run a business if you can't afford to pay for your labor.

Also, it pisses me off beyond belief that I've had college classes graded by teachers assistants that I'm usually much stronger than. I feel like since they have a PhD, tenure, etc, they can look at my work. I've gotten some poorly graded stuff back.