
Fast food workers you don't deserve 15 an hour to flip burgers and that is ok - Errorcod3
http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/fast-food-workers-you-dont-deserve-15-an-hour-to-flip-burgers-and-thats-ok/
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krapp
This article appears to suggest that the "comfortable" lifestyle being sought
by the workers here is one of needless decadence and undeserved luxury, when
even $15.00 an hour may still be marginally above the standard of living
depending on the region, particularly for a student, or single parent.

I have to disagree with the premise that education, skill and expertise are
strong qualifiers for level of income. Companies want to pay you as little for
your time as possible, in order to extract as much value out of you as
possible. You can bet your bottom dollar that EMTs and dentists and whomever
you might consider deserving of comfort would be making minimum wage if their
employers could get away with it. They can't, not because employers recognize
that those jobs are somehow _implicitly_ more worthy, but because the labor
pool would refuse to work for those wages, and because those jobs can't
effectively be automated or outsourced yet.

If fast food companies can afford to pay burger flippers $15.00 an hour and
still make a profit, then perhaps the author should consider whether or not
more estimable jobs, by comparison, are still valued too little.

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justanother
This is the wrong argument. Wages should be based on what the market will
bear, not merit, and this practically an axiom of free-market conservative
thought. In fact, arguing from merit is something I'd expect from _gasp_
leftists. If these people are successful in their collective bargaining, then
congratulations, $15 an hour is what the market will bear for their services
and they deserve every shiny penny.

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erikpukinskis
I don't think wages should be based on merit, I think they should be based on
how much value people contribute to the company. The market doesn't optimize
for that because of wide-scale wage fixing. The market pays the best
receptionists worse than the worst engineers because there's a cultural belief
that's a lower caliber of work. Markets don't operate in some magical land of
rationality that is divorced from culture.

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JoeAltmaier
You have your wish, mostly. Prices are bid up on jobs that are a) valuable to
the company and b) hard to obtain. Its not always culture at work; sometimes
in the market, and that example (admin vs engineer) is a perfect illustration
of the wage/value proposition.

Price-fixing is just a derogatory word for 'the market', isn't it?

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erikpukinskis
No, price fixing is when a group or institution colludes to set a price above
or below it's useful value in order to extract money from those outside the
group.

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cauterized
Just because $15/hr is more than many police or firefighters make doesn't mean
that it's too much to ask for. Perhaps we should consider that police and
firefighters (and also the accountants et al who are mentioned in the article)
are also underpaid. Maybe the decreasing real value of minimum wage is also
depressing wages and salaries for more skilled and higher paid workers.

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ReallyAnonymous
As stated below, the real problem is wage suppression by those with the money.
As more wealth gets concentrated to a few, they can decide what someone is
worth. That is why there is no middle class. Everyone is replaceable and
everyone that contacts customers / provides services gets paid shit, but the
managers / vice presidents / presidents, etc... that go to meetings all day,
make bank.

Trust me, I work for a hospital and entry salaries are insultingly low,
poverty level, but there are a bajillion managers / vice presidents that I am
sure make six figures. Not sure what they do all day, but I know they don't
participate in patient care.

Me, I'm a surgeon and do just fine, but it's crazy how little the support
staff in the OR make. Even when they're awesome.

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galfarragem
Supply and demand define salaries. Morality doesn't.

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Errorcod3
What is your current career/salary, and how long did it take for you to get
there?

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Errorcod3
I make 70k, and got there with 5 years of military experience, and 1 year as a
contractor to become a Intelligence Specialist at a GG-12 payscale.

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mc_hammer
idk if you can make 150 burgers an hour someone can probably pay you 3-4

the markup on fast food is like 1000%

