CNBC
NYC fast food workers attempt a strike: “Supersize our wages”
As the Black Friday Walmart strike grabbed the media’s attention over the last month, an army of full-time organizers were laboring quietly to launch another historic labor action.
A lead organizer claimed “hundreds” of fast food workers across New York City were walking off the job on Thursday, in what experts are calling the first multi-restaurant strike by fast food workers in the country.
“No more lies, Hold the fries,” shouted a few dozen protesters outside a Burger King by Penn Station on Thursday, bundled up against a brisk New York November day – at least half of whom appeared to be organizers, as opposed to workers. “Supersize our wages,” they chanted.
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The times are getting scary.
txhsmom on November 30, 2012 at 1:28 PM
Yeah….uh….you’re not neurosurgeons.
Bishop on November 30, 2012 at 1:28 PM
Why can’t these business’ just fire these losers on the spot?
jawkneemusic on November 30, 2012 at 1:28 PM
They should push for pot legalization. Demand for fast food would climb to the point they could name their price.
Rocks on November 30, 2012 at 1:28 PM
unreal
this is what liberalism is about though
CEO’s pay for every job
blatantblue on November 30, 2012 at 1:29 PM
Why can’t these business’ just fire these losers on the spot?
jawkneemusic on November 30, 2012 at 1:28 PM
If they actually don’t show up for work to do this? I can practically guarantee they would be fired. Most of them are probably doing this when they aren’t scheduled anyway.
Rocks on November 30, 2012 at 1:30 PM
Double their wages.
Then fire 75% of them.
Rixon on November 30, 2012 at 1:32 PM
Sure, but we’ll have to let half of you go … or we’ll have to double the prices of our food … in which case we’ll still have to let half of you go due to reduced business.
darwin on November 30, 2012 at 1:32 PM
Have fun in the unemployment line, a-holes. Tell the cute redhead and Stormtrooper I said hello.
Doughboy on November 30, 2012 at 1:33 PM
They should just go to work at Costco. Living wage, benefits and all that neat stuff… except for the fact that they were only the most qualified applicants in a pool of people willing to work at minimum wage.
If Walmart paid $30/hr, the people working there now would not be working there anymore. They would all be replaced by the more qualified people willing to work at the higher wage.
At least the union would be making money though….
rw on November 30, 2012 at 1:35 PM
I’m sure people wouldn’t mind paying $17.25 for a Big Mac meal.
darwin on November 30, 2012 at 1:35 PM
Gosh unions so fail at economics.
watertown on November 30, 2012 at 1:36 PM
They’re making minimum wage in Omerica’s Oconemy with double digit real inflation.
I bet they’re feeling the pinch more than most.
Too many people aided and abetted by the media are not connecting the dots here.
Financial collapse will precede social collapse soon enough.
CorporatePiggy on November 30, 2012 at 1:36 PM
Not when it comes to the economics of stuffing the pockets of fat union bosses and paying no taxes.
darwin on November 30, 2012 at 1:37 PM
They should give them supersized pink slips.
thebrokenrattle on November 30, 2012 at 1:38 PM
This.
I could do their job. They couldn’t do mine.
CurtZHP on November 30, 2012 at 1:42 PM
They’re just trying to cash in before nanny Bloomberg bans fast food altogether.
Rebar on November 30, 2012 at 1:42 PM
Anyone thinking they can live on wages from McD’s is a complete reject.
If the strikers don’t show up for work, McD’s can fire them.
dogsoldier on November 30, 2012 at 1:44 PM
Besides for the obvious economic principles that these people don’t understand, such as your wage can’t be whatever you want it to be “just because”, since it’s tied directly to the marginal product of your labor, they also seem to not understand that the leverage you hold in making this demand is directly proportional to the cost of the company faces in replacing you and the scarcity of individuals with your skill set. I hope hey learn this lesson and take it to heart.
Braveheart on November 30, 2012 at 1:45 PM
forest on November 30, 2012 at 1:45 PM
Fast food workers, making $20 an hour – what could go wrong?
Ward Cleaver on November 30, 2012 at 1:45 PM
If Walmart was forced to pay $30/hr tomorrow they would not simply “replace” their current staff by “more qualified” people. They would be forced to permanently slash their staff size, probably in half. Either that, or significantly jack up prices, which would shutter locations.
visions on November 30, 2012 at 1:46 PM
I guess that is what it comes down to hey? Sadly, I work in a union shop and, btw, our contract is up in Feb so we are in “talks”.
I have many times tried to explain to my union heads at the plant that production = more work for us. They slow down on purpose so they can get overtime. I then bring up to them all the time that not every one wants to work OT, specially those of us on 3rd because we all end up getting our start time bumped up … sometimes where we only get a 8 hour break then back to work. I think this is one of the factors why I now have very high BP because of the bounce around on nights for so long. Now its catching up. Thankfully I have won a first shift posting, but still will not want to work OT every stinkin weekend.
watertown on November 30, 2012 at 1:47 PM
Quickest way to make cheap fast food expensive slow food – unionize.
darwin on November 30, 2012 at 1:47 PM
Good luck with that.
dczombie on November 30, 2012 at 1:57 PM
Seriously? I mean, and WE get called racists?
cptacek on November 30, 2012 at 2:01 PM
I sometimes think “maybe I’ll sellout, take a union job, and cash in. Then i start thinking about what that would be like – as you describe. No thanks.
peski on November 30, 2012 at 2:12 PM
I know! The times haven’t been this scary since the 1860s!
How will we get all our cheap crap and junk food if workers start demanding enough compensation to live on? I’m SCARED!
Alpha_Male on November 30, 2012 at 2:32 PM
Hahahahahahahaha
What a dope.
darwin on November 30, 2012 at 2:34 PM
Math not your strong suite? Perhaps you’d enjoy just seeing people let go, or businesses folding?
Maybe all the above?
darwin on November 30, 2012 at 2:36 PM
I don’t know. Fast food is already so expensive in New York that po’ folks often can’t afford it. How much more are the customers willing to pay?
McDonalds has been dealing with stagnant revenues for the last year, because the po’ folks have gotten poorer. I know an awful lot of people for whom a dinner at McDonalds is now a luxury, especially if they have kids.
Raise the prices, and even more customers will be knocked out of the market.
J.E. Dyer on November 30, 2012 at 2:37 PM
You “pro-family” conservatives whine and gripe about entitlements and “handouts” yet you begrudge these people trying to create better lives for themselves and their families. Do you want to live in an America where people have to work for next to nothing, without benefits, and without access to a social safety net? Is it okay with you that they pass it on from generation to generation, creating a permanent underclass that is next to impossible to break out of? If you want the government to get out of people’s lives, why hate on these workers who are trying to get by on their own?
Alpha_Male on November 30, 2012 at 2:39 PM
And you definitely ain’t alpha, or probably even male (maybe technically). Heck, the women here are more alpha than you.
Go back to the View, much more suitable to your kind.
cozmo on November 30, 2012 at 2:40 PM
And you claim conservatives whine….geesh.
Is it that time, or something, sweetheart?
Maybe you should pray to your savior to fix it.
cozmo on November 30, 2012 at 2:43 PM
All I can say is you’re an idiot. If you have a brain engage it now.
darwin on November 30, 2012 at 2:43 PM
All I can say is, you are way too kind.
cozmo on November 30, 2012 at 2:45 PM
Companies that cannot afford to pay their workers should go out of business, yes. Fortunately, millions of companies have managed to pay a conscionable wage AND stay profitable. I’ll bet McDonalds and Chik-Fil-A could find some spare cash to pay their workers if they got real, real creative.
Alpha_Male on November 30, 2012 at 2:47 PM
Hey Einstein, give it a go with your own investors.
Don’t just write stupid, act stupid.
cozmo on November 30, 2012 at 2:48 PM
So you’d rather have people unemployed than with a job that doesn’t pay them what you want?
darwin on November 30, 2012 at 2:50 PM
Don’t confuse her. She is on a roll.
cozmo on November 30, 2012 at 2:51 PM
They’re franchises. People buy them … individuals like me and you buy and operate them. Get it?
You really need to change your name.
darwin on November 30, 2012 at 2:53 PM
Ahhh! We get to the real root of the matter!
Alpha male, my foot.
CurtZHP on November 30, 2012 at 2:56 PM
Check this out when you get a chance:
Basic Economics
visions on November 30, 2012 at 2:56 PM
.
Here’s video of a pair of these hard workers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf6hQWfRcyA&&#t=30s
mrt721 on November 30, 2012 at 2:57 PM
Alpha_Male on November 30, 2012 at 2:39 PM
The point of a robust, free market economy is so that people CAN better themselves.
Left wing “economies” (or as I like to call them “control structures”) do everything they can to destroy the environment of personal betterment. This causes people to need and rely on a safety net.
This isn’t hard stuff. These concepts aren’t complicated.
Encourage free market investment and growth, and people will be able to better their lives.
But this discussion reveals the dirty truth about liberals:
They don’t want people improving. They want people taking their general, cardboard 9-to-5′s and staying there for 25 years, waiting to retire and collect social security.
A disgusting point of view if you ask me.
blatantblue on November 30, 2012 at 2:58 PM
As one who has and currently does work in fast food, on one hand I can understand their gripe and desire for higher pay. On the other hand, I’m also aware of the razor thin profit margin that exists in fast food, as well level of ability needed for the job and the types of people such a job tends to attract and employ.
Yes, it’s often a demeaning, frustrating, chaotic and menial job, but higher wages would make matters worse, not better. Higher wages means prices get passed on to consumers. Higher wages means fewer employees and those fewer individuals required to do more work. As it is, with Obamacare, fast food companies are going to be making sure part-timers stay part timers with zero chance of ever reaching 40 hours, much less overtime.
Glad I’m getting out of it and going back to college. Fast food management bites, especially when you’re entry level management. The idea of working over 60 hours a week as a store manager for maybe 50k (if I’m lucky) and never seeing my family except two days out of the week did not appeal as well as having regional manager and corporate harp on every jot, tittle and dollar. Listening to and fielding customer gripes was the icing.
Logus on November 30, 2012 at 3:00 PM
But one the willfully ignorant idiot leftys consider utopia.
Unicorns Skittles and all that.
cozmo on November 30, 2012 at 3:00 PM
I support people’s right to say, “My time isn’t worth what you are compensating me.” If some business owners can’t find a way to both pay their workers what they demand (or would demand, if they were empowered to do so) and make a profit, they will be replaced by others who are able to do so. Call it “creative destruction,” if you like.
Alpha_Male on November 30, 2012 at 3:05 PM
lol, for all intents and purposes there was no strike, 0.000004% (the percentage of their workforce who participated in the strike) would be considered a flat 0 in most statistical analyses.
Union greenshirts loitering outside Walmart do not a strike make.
WeekendAtBernankes on November 30, 2012 at 3:07 PM
Which is basically a reincarnation of ACORN.
RadClown on November 30, 2012 at 3:15 PM
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