Posted on 01/05/2014 4:25:51 PM PST by SamAdams76
All this caterwauling lately by the sloppily organized "Fight for 15" movement, with the mission to force a $15 minimum wage for low-skill workers has got me to thinking: If retailers and fast food joints are going to be forced to pay $15 a hour to sling fries or ring up sales at a cash register, than why not pay that money to people like me?
Now I'm pretty happy in my high-skill daytime job, thank you very much. I make plenty enough money to pay the bills and then some. I'm doing okay, don't worry about me. However, like most people who don't have a million bucks or more sitting in the bank, I could always use extra cash. And I do have enough free time nights and weekends to work a second job. However, the current wages being paid for most of those part-time jobs just never appealed to me - not worth the aggravation. So I come home at night, have dinner, surf some Internet, read a book, maybe a little Netflix. Weekends pretty much the same, I run a few errands, do some yard work, but basically a lot of free time in which I could be earning a few extra bucks.
However, if the lazy bums who are pissing and moaning about how unappreciated they are for doing a low-skill job get their wish, and their employers are now forced to pay a minimum wage of $15/hr, consider me in the market for that second job.
If I work a second job 25 hours a week at $15 an hour, that comes to $375 a week and somewhere around $300 after taxes.
Now that's only a fraction of what I make in my full-time job but 300 extra dollars in my pocket every week is nothing to sneeze at. That's around $15,000 a year that I can spend on myself because it's "extra" money.
What will I do with that money?
I can get that new MacBook Pro I've been wanting. I can put a billiards table in the rec room without the wife getting all weird on me. I can outfit my "man cave" with a bar and new flat screen TV and the wife can't say a thing because what I make on my second job is splurge money just for me. Of course, I'll spend some of that money on her too and who knows, at $15/hr, she might want to get her own part-time "low-skill" job to get some extras for herself.
So that brings me to the point of this screed, if companies are going to be forced to pay $15/hr minimum, than not only are they going to be more choosy about who they hire but they are going to have a vastly expanded pool of candidates to choose from - so they no longer have to choose from the bottom of the barrel.
People like myself are going to run circles around the disaffected youths and the lifetime losers that previously held those jobs. I've been in the workforce more than 25 years. I show up on time, have a positive attitude, never complain and gripe, and don't take sick days. My customer relation skills are top-notch. All customers will get service with a smile and I'll keep them coming back. So who do you think these companies are going to pay $15 to? Somebody like me who will be dependable, hard-working and a net asset to their operation or some punk kid with attitude who wears a ballcap backwards? Or some 40-year-old loser with poor personal hygiene and who still lives in his parents basement? Or some shrill, needy single mom who is always bitching and looking for time off because her kid is home from school, or she needs to go to court to squeeze more money out of her ex-husband, or some other drama?
Not only that but these companies will quickly find that they need less employees because people like me can do twice the work of these slobs. So a typical McDonalds, for instance, who might staff 30 workers for the night shift might be able to make do with 15-20 as they are not getting much better quality employees.
So all this rabble who are picketing fast-food places, supermarkets and retail stores to get their $15/hr "living wage" are in for a big surprise should they ever get their wish. For they will have to now compete with people like me and millions of others who already have the skill set these employers are looking for. They will have priced themselves right out of the job market because they simply aren't worth $15/hr.
Then what will they do?
My son, recently graduated with a MS in Mechanical Engineering, has a completely different take on the $15/hr minimum wage idea.
He is in favor of it, because it will drive more demand for automation in food services, which will help him and his industry.
Raise the minimum wage high enough, and your job, too could be automated away.
$15 per hour used to be good money.... Like, 20 years ago...
If the social planners think business is going to open its arms to hordes of uneducated and unskilled newly legitimized foreign nationals when they can get experienced English speakers for their $15/hour who are not interested in joining a union. They are misinformed.
And wouldn't want to join a union. As an aside you could use the extra income for an IRA.
The protestors are all old enough to have had ample opportunity to work their way up past minimum wages jobs. Maybe it’s a problem with their work ethic. Plus the guy in front appears to be in need of AIDS meds.
It’s ECON 101. An increase in the price of labor equates to an increase in labor supply and a decrease in labor demand, which results in a surplus of labor - also known as ‘unemployment’.
That is very true, but the kids and immigrants will lose their jobs so burgers will be outside of their budget. Rich folks can afford the extra 25% but will go elsewhere anyway.
That what this "fight for 15" bunch is setting themselves up for.
He does have that “Freddie Mercury” look to him, come to think of it!
most of the burger flippers in my neighborhood are qualified for “stamps” along with their pay.....they dont want to make 15 bucks an hour for a 40 hour week..they wanna may 15 for a 20 hour week...still get the “stamps”..
Looking back at the sign in the photo, I see they should cross out all that stuff past “I demand” and just write “ a nanny and regular diaper changes”.
These people are infants by choice and will bang their rattles and squeal and scream when $15/hr jobs go to... those whose work is worth $15/hr.
Can’t even hope for an alien abduction... aliens would beam back to their own planets stat as soon as they got a close look at these losers.
“Do you realize the labor is only 25% of the total cost of a fast food meal? So do the math; doubling min wage will only increase the retail price by 25%.”
Since obummer took over the white hut, the price for a combo meal at What a burger went from about $4.50 to over $8.50.
Most people of meager means are dining on the dollar menu.
$15 dollars an hour for someone who can’t put two creamers In a medium coffee?
No thanks, bring on the robots.....
At $15.00 an hour, a college degree may just be a requirement to sling fries. {sarcasm)
Naah, they won’t raise prices that much, they’ll just automate more and the $15/hr will go to a manager or other more skilled person who keeps the machines running.
Absolutely EXCELLENT article. I’m retired, and have this expensive Kindle book habit. I could read a little less, pay for my habit...socialize and probably have some left over for a new fishing rod. Tempting, really tempting. (...and I’m not kidding!)
If they do get $15, that will devalue our straight income so we’ll HAVE to get a burger flipping job just to stay even.
The price of that potato alone would be $14. Vicious cycle.
Michey D has already kissed their dollar menu goodbye. It’s now the value menu with items up to $5. Or so I’ve heard since I can’t afford to eat there.
Years ago the sales pitch for a Taco Bell type franchise went like this:
1/3 of expenses are for fixed costs, buildings, equipment and utilities.
1/3 of expenses is for the cost of food.
The 1/3 left over is potential profit. Labor was spread over all three parts based on revenue.
About a 100k investment plus capital costs, needed one year expenses in the bank.
Sad to say, but in my area I can only depend on Whataburger and Chic-fil-a to have actual Americans owning them.
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