Since we’re seeing the issue of a “living wage” heating up again, here’s a reblog of a post from a year and a half ago that explains why you cannot pay $15 per hour at McDonalds, even if you pay out all of the profits. It also explains how the owners of a company can make millions – it’s not because they underpay workers or cheat customers. Finally, if you’re a minimum wage worker, it tells you how to actually raise your wage instead of protest yourself out of a job.
Originally posted on The Small Investor:
There were several strikes this week at fast food restaurants. McDonald’s was held up as an example of a corporation that could be paying its workers a lot more ($15 per hour versus $7.25 to start now). The arguments were that workers today aren’t teenagers. Instead they are single moms with two kids to feed.
Three arguments are commonly used. The first is that McDonald’s pays its chief executive millions of dollars more than companies did in the past while entry-level workers have seen wages stay stagnant or decline. The second is that McDonald’s and other corporations are seeing record profits and could share more. The final one is that the workers need the higher wages to live in places like New York City and raise two kids. Let’s look at each of these.
The CEO has seen a big rise in pay compared to the workers. I actually agree…
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