

New York Plans $15 Minimum Wage for Fast Food Workers - deadmik3
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/23/nyregion/new-york-minimum-wage-fast-food-workers.html?_r=0

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philiphodgen
This will only accelerate the trend to automating away these jobs. E.g., serve
your own soda -- it is cheaper than having a human make the drink for you.
When humans are more expensive than machines, they are replaced.

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jhugg
Seems to me that robot stuff is getting cheaper faster than wages are going
up. If a robot can do the job, then another $6 an hour probably isn’t all that
different. Might as well pay people a living wage for hard work in the
meantime.

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overpaidgoogler
You can't have it both ways. "in the meantime" there will also be cases where
$6 an hour would have made the difference between having a job and not having
one.

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andrewmcwatters
Frankly, I want a good, cheap burger, and if the way to obtaining that is to
automate jobs, bring it on.

I remember when if you wanted a cheap burger, you went to Micky D's and if you
wanted a bit more quality you could shell out a buck or two more somewhere
else like Burger King.

But the field has changed and now with a greater number of Five Guys and In-
and-Outs, it seems like everyone wants to jump on the quality end of the value
triangle when it comes to pumping out burgers, and you're left with very
little variety in pricing.

Give me a place where I can shave a couple bucks off my combo again at the
expense of not having some teenager or college student screw up my order and
you'll have a customer.

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peterwwillis
I think you're exaggerating the scope of the changes in the fast food
industry. There are very few Five Guys and In-n-Out locations compared to the
big fast food chains, whose prices remain very competitive, and whose food
remains pretty crappy. Don't worry; you can still buy really cheap, unhealthy
food all over the nation.

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andrewmcwatters
Perhaps it's localized, or I am just exaggerating. But it's not uncommon for a
meal at McDonalds in Arizona to be comparable to one at In-n-Out. Other local
fast food chains also now mimic the containers or lack thereof of the
aforementioned burger joints.

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Alex3917
The government now wants different minimum wages for each industry and
location? This is completely insane.

