Fast-Food Workers Protest to Raise Minimum Wage to $15 an Hour

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Fast-Food Workers Protest to Raise Minimum Wage to $15 an Hour

There have been protests among fast food workers in almost all parts of the United States as seen in the recent news. These fast food workers want their minimum wage to be increased to 15 dollars an hour. Some of these employees work in fast food chains such as Burger King and McDonalds. Furthermore, these workers recently went on strike in cities such as Los Angeles, New York and Cleveland, among others. They organized protests and sit-ins as part of their ‘Fight for $15’ initiative. It is even estimated that at least two million Service Employees International support the campaign. This paper will seek to provide a critical analysis on the disadvantages and advantages of increasing the minimum wage of fast-food workers to 15 dollars per hour.

Many of these employees continue to complain that the current minimum wage is not enough to cater to their many needs. Furthermore, in this current economic situation, many essentials in life have become quite expensive, and people have to find ways of surviving. It is no wonder that some politicians are coming forward to find ways of addressing the plight of the fast food workers (CBSLA.com 1). The mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti is one of the few politicians who want the minimum wage of these workers to increase. Garcetti has come up with a proposal to increase the minimum wage up to 13.25 dollars per hour. He claims that it is not right for people who provide essential services to live in poverty, and yet they work on a full-time basis. In fact, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute, at least 16.7 percent of all employees working in restaurants live way down the poverty line (Brody 1). In addition, this figure is twice higher among people who do not work in the food service industry.

It is vital to raise the minimum wage of these workers because they need to improve the status of their lives. Even president Obama believes that the minimum wage has to increase if America is to succeed. Furthermore, Obama wants the current 7.25 dollars federal minimum wage to increase to 10.10 dollars (Brody 1). Since the fast foods are large businesses, they can afford to increase the minimum wage that their workers receive. In fact, some of the chains such as Burger King and McDonalds make extremely high profits and are even listed as some of the leading corporations in the world. These corporations need to ensure that they pay their workers well since they can afford it and even need to maintain a good public image.

In Cincinnati, a recent ordinance was passed and the minimum wage was raised to 15 dollars. There are complaints that this new law is not being applied evenly as it is required that the fast foods implement the minimum wages in three years as opposed to seven years. Most of these fast food workers depend on the government to support them through food stamps and the SNAP program. These subsidies and programs are a heavy burden to tax payers as the amount comes up to around 7 billion dollars (Brody 1). It is not fair for taxpayers to continue suffering when a solution to this problem can easily be found. The government needs to increase the minimum wage so to avoid over burdening the tax payers. In the year 2013, McDonalds made 5.6 billion dollars in profits, and this amount is enough to increase the minimum wage of its employees.

However, they are some people who are opposed to the increase of minimum wages. For example, McDonalds came up with a press statement claiming that if the wages were to be increased, it would take time. Furthermore, the wage increase will greatly affects medium and small sized businesses (CBSLA.com 1). These types of businesses cannot afford to pay such high minimum wages as it is expensive, and they have to incur other costs as well. In addition, if the minimum wages are increased, it means that well-educated people will want to work in fast food chains as opposed to working in better positions. The minimum wage will be quite attractive, and everyone will want to work in the food service industry, and other jobs will not have employees. In addition, if the minimum wage is increased, the food cost is likely to go up as well as the fast food prices. The customers will be the ones suffering, as they will be ones who will pay high prices for food in order for the fast food worker’s wages to increase.

In conclusion, the minimum wage of fast food workers should be increased in order to survive in the harsh economic environment. These workers have families that they need to support and if they are not paid well, they might turn to illegal ways of obtaining money. Their minimum wage has to increase, and to a certain extent if not to 15 dollars per hour. Therefore, it is evident that there are many benefits of increasing the fast food worker’s minimum wage.

Works Cited

Brody, R. Should Fast Food Workers Get $15 Per Hour? US NEWS. 4 Sept 2014. Web. 30 Oct 2014. <http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2014/09/04/should-striking-fast-food-workers-get-15-per-hour>

CBSLA.com. Fast-Food Workers Protest To Raise Minimum Wage To $15 An Hour, CBS Los Angeles, 4 Sept 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2014. <http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/09/04/fast-food-workers-to-strike-in-campaign-to-raise-minimum-wage-to-15-an-hour/>