This post is a follow up to Tom’s contribution on November 5th about “Why Fast Food Wages Really Matter,” where he pointed out that “over 50% of fast food workers are enrolled in at least one public assistance program.”
A few months ago, McDonald’s—the prototypical fast food industry player—posted some advice to employees on their website: “If you’re hungry, break your food into pieces. You’ll eat less and still feel full.” In the same vein, McDonald’s has also encouraged employees to consider food stamps to supplement their pay.
These observations raise Tom’s question all over again: “Is that really worth a Big Mac that’s a buck cheaper?”
The idea of Mc Donalds is . . . everything is the same ! All the food comes from the same companies, it’s all cooked at the same temp for the same time. The concept is that you can get the same taste no matter where you are. Every ‘MDs’ is the same, look, color, style . . . so now they have completed the circle . . . they now all have the same employees . . . and they all have the same problems . . . so sad that a company that big seems not to care about the people that work there . . . they don’t realize that their employees are potiental customers and that treating them poorly is bad advertising . . . they will bad mouth ‘MDs’ . . . and look at all the bad press. No matter the company, but when companies stop caring about employees . . . the employees stop caring about the company. Both are bad and both get hurt. Just my thoughts . . .
Here’s one follow up from the NYT pointing to some research done comparing neighboring states with different minimum wages:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/02/28/opinion/business-and-the-minimum-wage.html
It suggests there may be more benefits to producers from a minimum wage increase than many claim.