Where do you stand on the Fight for 15?

2016-05-25T13:25:53-04:00

What is the reason for your position? Personally I am against it because at the current wage they agreed upon when they were hired, they are incapable of the simplest tasks. Current example: Being the ONLY customer at the moment, I ordered a 10 piece nugget. I received a hamburger. I've had cashiers who couldn't make change without the register telling them how. So what are your thoughts?

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 25 at 2016 1:26 PM

2016-05-25T13:26:50-04:00

I'm down for Wendy's making this system automated.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made May 25 at 2016 1:26 PM

2016-05-25T13:26:59-04:00

I am against it. It will only raise prices and make more people "poor".

Response by SGT David T. made May 25 at 2016 1:29 PM

2016-05-25T13:29:36-04:00

I am not against people earning what they are worth. However, they don't realize that mandating $15 for non skilled labor will cause a significant increase in prices and they will still be barely scraping by like they are now. I know this may sound heartless, but if they want $15 an hour they should make themselves competitive to get said wage. When I first entered the Civil Service, my hourly rate was $15 with a Bachelor's degree...take from that what you will.

Response by SGM Mikel Dawson made May 25 at 2016 1:29 PM

2016-05-25T13:29:50-04:00

Products of today's society. Want more for what they can't do. Many haven't been taught correct math skills, reading skills and yet they want more for doing less. They should have to prove themselves proficient enough to do the simple jobs.
Oh, I'm for no raise.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made May 25 at 2016 1:35 PM

2016-05-25T13:35:43-04:00

I support it. The more they earn the less they are dependent on Government Handouts. The less they are dependent on Government Hand Outs the more Personal Pride. In Australia and Northern Europe where they have equatable wages the increase of cost per unit is Negligible. Also as far as a Negotiating Tactic Shoot for the Stars and hopefully you get halfway there.

Response by SGT Kyle Johnson made May 25 at 2016 1:51 PM

2016-05-25T13:51:22-04:00

Against it, plus it needs to ripple effect.. for example I was called the other day about a job position for a skilled fiber optic technician position. I was just curious what it payed? It was 16.75 per hour.. So based on a non-skilled worker getting 15 per hour, this should be adjusted to nearly $33.50 per hour for this skilled fiber tech. I can think of a host of other jobs. If you are going to double min wage, all current pay rates and salaries will need to be doubled. Ludicrous huh?? I thought so...

Response by A1C Charles D Wilson made May 25 at 2016 2:00 PM

2016-05-25T14:00:46-04:00

I am against it. I say an increase but not nearly that much. I started working at 15 years of age and we made $2.75-3.25 an hour min wage also. I joined the U.S.A.F. Res. at 17 years of age and my pay made me understand the technical training got me better paying jobs (mechanic vrs cook/floor sweep/server) but like I stated yes they need to be paid a little more. Let us say $8.50- $9.50 national standard because each state has its own settings about pay.

Chuck D
And no I do not feel the "Bern" either. j/k 07 Salute

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made May 25 at 2016 2:12 PM

2016-05-25T14:12:32-04:00

Artificially raising the wages to any given level above current levels only raises costs of the product to the customers. This increases the cost of living for everyone, including those getting the raise. The other effect is to make marginal employees unemployable as automation is brought in as a cost saving measure.

Have you ever seen one of those cash registers at a fast food place? The employees can be replaced by a kiosk.

How to work the Register at McDonalds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZIfALgJhF8

How to work the Register at McDonalds

This video will show you the basics of how work the cash register at mcdonalds. This video is for anyone considering working at mcdonalds, or for anyone who ...

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made May 25 at 2016 2:54 PM

2016-05-25T14:54:09-04:00

The state next to us just raised the minimum wage. Our senior apartment complex has one similar to ours there. So they also gave our employees a raise. My rent is going up 7.5% on July 1. Please don't tell me that boosting the wage to $15 per hour will not cause prices to rise.

That said want to hazard a guess as to how much my four retirement checks went up?

AND, raising the wage to $15 per hour will cost many their job.

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made May 25 at 2016 3:15 PM

2016-05-25T15:15:03-04:00

First, I believe the Federal Government should get out of the minimum wage business. Let the states and localities set minimum wage if they want, but a Federal mandated minimum wage is like one-size-fits-all gloves, they don't really fit anybody. $15 might be a good minimum wage in New York or Miami or San Diego, but it might be too much in small town Mid-America where I live. Minimum wage should be entry-level job pay. It's what's paid to the "new kids" who still have a lot to learn and aren't really making much money for the company yet. The goal of every employee should be to do the job so well that they don't stay at minimum wage for any length of time.

The practical effect of a $15/hr minimum will be more automation and more unemployment of low-skilled or unskilled workers. In a service oriented economy, labor is the single biggest cost for many employers. If the government increases the cost of labor, the companies will respond by taking cost cutting measurers and possibly increasing prices. Automation may not have been practical when entry-level customer service personnel cost $7.50/hr. When that cost doubles, automated alternatives will look much more attractive. (The kiosk is coming to a Taco Bell near you. Press 1 for English, 2 for Spanish, 3 for taco choices, 4 for burrito choices . . . .Star 9 for drink choices.) The employer will pass some of the cost on to the customer. The fast food lunch that you're paying $6.50 for today may go up to $7.50 or higher if the competition will allow. The displaced workers will have to seek jobs in other service industries or be unemployed. Unemployment will increase the dependence on Government, which is exactly what the Liberals want!

Response by LTC Kevin B. made May 25 at 2016 3:15 PM

2016-05-25T15:15:40-04:00

I say raise it to $12 an hour, index it to inflation, and then put this issue to bed forevermore.

Response by SSG William Jones made May 25 at 2016 3:33 PM

2016-05-25T15:33:17-04:00

Do you walk in to McDonald's and say, "Look, double the price of my Happy Meal. I want to pay double the price for my hamburger and my french fries and my soda and my cheap little cookie. And, by the way, I want you to double the price for whatever my kids get, and I want you to double the price for whatever my wife orders, and then I want you to go and make sure that the wages and benefits of the people who work here go up"? Do you do any of that? Oh, no! It's always an entry-level wage. It's not for skilled labor. It's not designed to support families or anything the sort. It was never the intention. It was intended to be a political football from the first days it was proposed. Everybody thinks there's all kinds of compassion behind a minimum wage. There isn't. It was just an opportunity to make it look that way. One person so far, has cut all communications with me over issues like this. The rest of my brothers in arms haven't "grabbed" their football and gone home. That person would be the resident liberal, here. I wonder if he thinks ALL of us are wrong and only he is right?

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 25 at 2016 4:10 PM

2016-05-25T16:10:50-04:00

Absolutely not. Earning minimum wage is not meant to be for life. Work hard and earn raises and raise your education level where you can get a higher paying job.

Response by SSG Drew Cook made May 25 at 2016 4:16 PM

2016-05-25T16:16:39-04:00

Raise it. Huge corporations are profiting at ridiculous amounts of money on the backs of these minimum wage workers who are treated like garbage, struggle to pay their bills because they don't make quite enough to support their children, so they must take a second or third or fourth job, preventing them from furthering their education that they probably can't afford in the first place unless they get loans/grants/assistance, further preventing them from moving up.

At the same time, I understand the difficulties this might place on small/medium-sized businesses. There should be some sort of contingency that allows some leeway, like a required minimum wage based on the company or corporation's earnings and profit margin.

Remember, not everyone who has to work a minimum wage job is an idiot. Only those who assume they are idiots are the actual idiots.

Response by LTC Paul Labrador made May 25 at 2016 4:22 PM

2016-05-25T16:22:19-04:00

Wages, IMHO, should be tied to not only the scope of your work and but also what the local market dictates as a fair wage. $15 to flip burgers in NYC may be a fair wage for that kind of work considering the cost of living in NYC....but that is exorbitant for somewhere like middle-of-nowhere Alabama where the cost of living is nowhere near that high. Also minimal skills garner minimum pay. You want to earn more, make yourself more valuable to your employer.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made May 25 at 2016 4:26 PM

2016-05-25T16:26:17-04:00

http://www.citylab.com/housing/2016/05/the-hourly-wage-needed-to-rent-a-2-bedroom-apartment-in-2016-mapped/484091/

The Hourly Wage Needed to Rent a 2-Bedroom Apartment in 2016, Mapped

The amount that an average American needs to make in order to afford a modest rental keeps creeping up.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 25 at 2016 5:12 PM

2016-05-25T17:12:31-04:00

i'm not for it, many companies are now looking into, or have already done replacing people with automation, if a customer comes in selects thier product from a computer, then why have any body but the 1,2or3, in the back preparing the order, so its cutting your own throat, really 15/hr for non skilled, i'm skilled and dont make that much, if you want more money get an education, light a fire under your ass and work for it, i was an lpn/emt and still did'nt make that much, went to work in factory through hard work and determination i've been promoted into a mechanics job which nearly doubles my income, i've heard this way too much they dont pay me enough, but in reality then you get what you put out, i chose going above and beyound and it has rewarded me

Response by LTC Erik Spike Thiesmeyer, Sr. made May 25 at 2016 5:44 PM

2016-05-25T17:44:01-04:00

At age 16, I marched my butt into our local McDonald's and got my first job. I had absolutely no skill. I received the minimum wage of $3.85 per hour. Which was quite a bit more than the $1 an hour I got for babysitting. I learned everything about customer service, timecards, taxes, being on-time, being courteous to customers, grooming standards, how to keep the food prep area clean, etc. Within a few short weeks I was running the grill or working the register. My co-workers were also high schoolers from our neighborhood all earning some extra money while still in school. We made it fun. Management made it fun. No one was trying to feed a family or pay a mortgage. It was a great first step. After a month, I got a $.25 raise! I was thrilled and never again in my life would I earn "minimum wage". I worked there for over a year and still receive social security statements with the wages I earned from that first job. Fast food and other entry level jobs are simply that, entry level. You start there. Learn some life skills. Earn a few bucks and move on. These jobs were never intended for people to earn a living wage. If I were a McDonald's owner today, I would go out of my way to hire and train 16-20 year olds who are looking for that first job. I am against the fight for $15. It will harm more people than it helps.

Response by Capt Michael Greene made May 25 at 2016 5:46 PM

2016-05-25T17:46:26-04:00

Many people are incapable of doing a good job. Remember, by definition, fully half the population is below average intelligence. In regards to abilities, we military are pretty high up there.
As late as 1973, family men worked 40 hours and could afford to save up for a house, car and college for the kids. If hard times hit, the wife could easily go out and find work to pitch in. As late as 1982, jobs were plentiful, and you could quit one and be hired before the end of the week at equivalent pay in a good position. Several factors combined to turn that world upside down, but I won't go into them here, now.
My minimum wage in 1972 was about $2/hr and that was fine. Most folks on min wage then were starters and kids. But now, I see there are too many adults working in min wage job because they have destroyed careers or smashed nest eggs. These experienced and educated middle-aged workers with families are scrounging for any job they can get, and are forced to take multiple 20-hour jobs at minimum wage to keep their families out of the soup line.
Unfortunately, experienced workers in America are competing with near-slaves in China. Donald Trump was right in this regard when he said, in several venues, "Our wages are too high. We have to compete with other countries." (But just recently, he tweeted "Wages in our country are too low, good jobs are too few,..." so I don't know what his position is today.)
Since the Eighties, working wages have been flat. If min wage was adjusted for inflation, it would be $21/hr.
Will $15 cause prices to go up and cause people to get fired? Several studies over the decades show that, in the real economy, prices go up very little and the number of jobs lost is minimal. Plus, at $15 the whole economy improves and tax revenues are higher. So I think we should phase in the new minimum wage over a couple of years, along with many other reforms. So min wage is not the only answer--it must be part of a wide-ranging economic reform package that, first and foremost, provides decent jobs for all who are willing to take them.

Response by MSgt Keith Hebert made May 25 at 2016 7:13 PM

2016-05-25T19:13:34-04:00

I feel you pain on the ineptitude of people

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made May 25 at 2016 9:22 PM

2016-05-25T21:22:28-04:00

Anyone who is for this doesn't have a grasp of economics.

For those who want to learn, start reading about Austrian Economics as written about by Hayek, Von Mises, and Rothbard.

Totally enlightening.

Response by SFC Marcus Belt made May 26 at 2016 2:24 AM

2016-05-26T02:24:26-04:00

I am for it. We can argue that people in those positions aren't worth $15/hour, and that may be valid, but we also know that income and wealth disparity has become an issue in the US and it's not going to get addressed from the top down. We also know that the minimum wage is BELOW where it was 20-30 years ago, adjusted for inflation.

Further, the argument that they accepted the job at the lower wage is not a valid argument against a pay raise because well, so did all of us.

Lastly, in most importantly, if the market can't sustain it, it won't be sustained.

How can people who believe in freedom and capitalism, be against people engaging in the democratic process to address income inequality? Have we assigned value to persons based on the fact that they are unskilled labor?

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 26 at 2016 11:54 AM

2016-05-26T11:54:08-04:00

A financial policy advocated by people who do not understand economics.

Response by SCPO Private RallyPoint Member made May 26 at 2016 1:14 PM

2016-05-26T13:14:35-04:00

A McDonald's burger flipper was NEVER intended to be a profession. It is possible, however, to become the owner of that McDonald's, or several McDonald's, or the CEO of McDonald's, but not until one drops the spatula and willfully decides to better one's self. You're right, Cpl Justin Goolsby. The vast, overwhelming majority of these people do not come close to deserving $15 an hour, and I'd be very hard pressed to give some of them $10.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made May 26 at 2016 1:32 PM

2016-05-26T13:32:45-04:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03vkvvt