The Minimum Wage and $15 an Hour

I am going to change gears for a little bit and talk about something other then Universal Basic Income for today.   I am going to discuss the people (Fast Food Workers mostly) who are protesting, trying to get fast food restarants to  pay them $15/hour.

The problem with this, of course is that these workers want to be paid at a skilled rate to do an unskilled job that anyone can be taught to do.  They workers don't want to obtain skills that will make them worth $15, they just expect a handout (a problem that is almost an epidemic these days).

They also claim that the McDonald's CEO is making millions of dollars so he can "share the wealth", well there are a few things wrong with this premise.

First off, the majority of McDonald's restaurants are owned by franchisees who are leveraged to the hilt, because you have to have $1 million or more to get a franchise.  Not to mention being a franchisee mean you have to pay a certain amount each month to McDonald's as part of the agreement.   A franchise restaurant that has to pay $15/hour would have to raise prices and most likely would cut workers down to the bare minimum allowed in order to continue to make a profit and stay in business.

Secondly, even if the CEO took a lesser salary (lets say $1 million dollars) and split the remaining salary with all employees, it would break down to around $10 per person.  $10 is hardly going to make an impact on the lives of the works.  Not to mention what the CEO makes has nothing to do with the cost of unskilled labor.  The CEO is paid more and has a higher education and completes tasks which require more skill.

If the restaurants were forced to pay $15/hour do these poor people (often African American) think they would still have jobs?  Of course they wouldn't.    If a restaurant were forced to pay a premium hourly wage they would get the best people possible and the workers who spend their workdays chatting and checking their cell phones instead of serving customers would be out of work.

Should minimum wage go up?  Absolutely.  I am sympathetic to the workers situation and perhaps a middle ground can be reached.   I just know the amount that the workers are asking for now is just unrealistic and would do more harm then good.

What do you think about the whole minimum wage situation?  Comment and let me know