Minimum Wage Increase in Chicago

[MilliJac]

Yes, of course, and I am one of those "someones" who, as an engineer, not only makes a lot more than minimum wage but works on automating things. But there are a lot fewer of me than those who work at unskilled minimum-wage jobs.

I don't know why these guys don't get that you and I serve a number of different customers. When an engineering firm gets a P.O. for some automation work it doesn't mean that everyone in that firm is now a full time employee of the customer's. I might work on design and assembly for 1 customer for a few days, but after that I help another customer, and then another, and then some more..

 

[Dean C.]

I like the point brought up earlier about the value of money going down. Also as a poor college student I can chime in here as I currently work at a burger flipping establishment lol. The whole situation would be greatly helped if Obama Care was killed. The limiting of employees to 28 hours a week is outrageous because it really is easier to hire more employees that work less than it is to pay for either healthcare or the fines.

This next point is gonna catch some heat so might as well go for it. Allot of people employed at my particular job are Felons. What does this have to do with anything you ask? Places like McDonalds and others are some of the only places around that are willing to hire felons. Most of these felons are on work release, probation or house arrest and to be in compliance they need to have a job. So they go to the only place willing to hire them.... The lack of hours and low pay mean they often cannot afford the fees and costs associated with house arrest, probation and work release (yes they have to pay fees for those). So in order to make ends meet these folks often resort to illegal measures to make more money. This inevitably leads them back to prison when they get caught and now they are being paid for by our tax dollars to the tune of $50,000 a year over double what they would be making at McDonalds in an entire year just to sit on their butts in a cell somewhere. I dont feel bad for the felons I am simply stating it is better they have a paying job and are productive members of society paying taxes than us tax payers footing the bill for them to stay in the pokey.

The next fun topic is the idea that companies give a raise to the good employees at lease where I work that is some what of a running joke. I cannot easily at all change jobs because of my college classes make working fixed hours difficult as my grades are by far more important than my job currently. Heck I am a manager where I currently work and I barley make above minimum wage just over 20% to be exact so not even the managers are paid well at all. On an aside since the whole automation issue was brought up you cannot get rid of the human workers easily at all because a robot cannot preform all of the tasks required of the human workers. There would be a need for a very large amount of robots doing lots of smaller specialized jobs, and that would be very very cost prohibitive. Plus you would still need people to deal with angry customers, cash deposits, inventory, and other jobs. I can go into very detailed lists of what the robots would need to be capable of doing but I dont want to bore anyone.

Now I am not advocating for $15 an hour here I feel the federally proposed $10.10 an hour was very reasonable as we can leave the $15 an hour for unskilled labor to the union jackoffs. Besides most small business owners I know pay their workers $10 dollars an hour under the table anyways so they wont be affected. The profit margin for companies like McDonalds and such is huge to begin with so $2.90 an hour extra wont hurt them badly at all. It is not just felons and college students who work at places like Mcdonalds either there are allot of single mothers working there and mentally and physically handicapped people work there as well (at least in my experiance) these types of people work there not because they want to but because they have to in order to provide for themselves and their families.

(No I do not work at Mcdonalds I have standards.)

 

[unshelledpilot]

Had something similar happen earlier this week. Noble Roman's (pizza) had a 30% off coupon for Cyber Monday (if you ordered online). When I went to pick up my pizza, and showed my digital coupon on my phone, the young lady promptly pulled out her calculator and began looking confused. The pizza came to $13.99. I told her that 30% would be $4.20. I even "showed my work" by explaining that 3 x 14 = 42.00... move the decimal point over one place to the left and voila! 30%! She finally gave up and said she would just give me her employee discount (50%), since apparently the register figures that out for them. I was happy about the discount. I was saddened that even with a calculator this young lady couldn't figure out a simple, whole number percentage. I did it in my head. I must be a freaking genius.

Don't you know? It's hard to count.[video=youtube_share;Y0Z0raWIHXk]http://youtu.be/Y0Z0raWIHXk[/video]

 

[actaeon277]

I like the point brought up earlier about the value of money going down. Also as a poor college student I can chime in here as I currently work at a burger flipping establishment lol. The whole situation would be greatly helped if Obama Care was killed. The limiting of employees to 28 hours a week is outrageous because it really is easier to hire more employees that work less than it is to pay for either healthcare or the fines.

This next point is gonna catch some heat so might as well go for it. Allot of people employed at my particular job are Felons. What does this have to do with anything you ask? Places like McDonalds and others are some of the only places around that are willing to hire felons. Most of these felons are on work release, probation or house arrest and to be in compliance they need to have a job. So they go to the only place willing to hire them.... The lack of hours and low pay mean they often cannot afford the fees and costs associated with house arrest, probation and work release (yes they have to pay fees for those). So in order to make ends meet these folks often resort to illegal measures to make more money. This inevitably leads them back to prison when they get caught and now they are being paid for by our tax dollars to the tune of $50,000 a year over double what they would be making at McDonalds in an entire year just to sit on their butts in a cell somewhere. I dont feel bad for the felons I am simply stating it is better they have a paying job and are productive members of society paying taxes than us tax payers footing the bill for them to stay in the pokey.

The next fun topic is the idea that companies give a raise to the good employees at lease where I work that is some what of a running joke. I cannot easily at all change jobs because of my college classes make working fixed hours difficult as my grades are by far more important than my job currently. Heck I am a manager where I currently work and I barley make above minimum wage just over 20% to be exact so not even the managers are paid well at all. On an aside since the whole automation issue was brought up you cannot get rid of the human workers easily at all because a robot cannot preform all of the tasks required of the human workers. There would be a need for a very large amount of robots doing lots of smaller specialized jobs, and that would be very very cost prohibitive. Plus you would still need people to deal with angry customers, cash deposits, inventory, and other jobs. I can go into very detailed lists of what the robots would need to be capable of doing but I dont want to bore anyone.

Now I am not advocating for $15 an hour here I feel the federally proposed $10.10 an hour was very reasonable as we can leave the $15 an hour for unskilled labor to the union jackoffs. Besides most small business owners I know pay their workers $10 dollars an hour under the table anyways so they wont be affected. The profit margin for companies like McDonalds and such is huge to begin with so $2.90 an hour extra wont hurt them badly at all. It is not just felons and college students who work at places like Mcdonalds either there are allot of single mothers working there and mentally and physically handicapped people work there as well (at least in my experiance) these types of people work there not because they want to but because they have to in order to provide for themselves and their families.

(No I do not work at Mcdonalds I have standards.)

$10.10 an hour may seem reasonable to you, then you can pay it when you're a boss.
Everyone wants to raise the minimum wage, then wonders why companies want to move overseas.

The problem is, what you earn has NOTHING to do with your $/hour.
And it has EVERYTHING to do with what you can buy with it.

 

[AA&E]

...and the market will not adjust wages....why?

Corporate greed and an inflated pool of employees due to immigration.. both legal and illegal.

 

[BigMatt]

$10.10 an hour may seem reasonable to you, then you can pay it when you're a boss.
Everyone wants to raise the minimum wage, then wonders why companies want to move overseas.

The problem is, what you earn has NOTHING to do with your $/hour.
And it has EVERYTHING to do with what you can buy with it.

This guy gets it. It's like he has been listening to Ron Paul or something.

 

[MilliJac]

On an aside since the whole automation issue was brought up you cannot get rid of the human workers easily at all because a robot cannot preform all of the tasks required of the human workers. There would be a need for a very large amount of robots doing lots of smaller specialized jobs, and that would be very very cost prohibitive. Plus you would still need people to deal with angry customers, cash deposits, inventory, and other jobs. I can go into very detailed lists of what the robots would need to be capable of doing but I dont want to bore anyone.

In a decade, robots will be able to perform almost every function at a McDonalds. As I said in my earlier point, yes, 1 worker per shift would still be necessary. But thats better than 9.

This may not seem like much to you guys, but it had a few of us grown men at my firm giggling like school girls:
Empire Robotics - Videos

Robots will continue to get more and more versatile. Quickly. Ok, y'all can have your thread back. Sorry.

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

You walk out to your garage and turn the key in your ignition and go. Your ancestors had to saddle a horse or turn the crank on the front to start their car.

Almost every generation has had it better than the previous. If you want to heat your home, do you turn up the thermostat or do you spend days and weeks with an axe and a handsaw cutting wood for the stove?

This isn't a new thing.

True enough, but I think the exception is most generations retain the skills of the previous generation. I can saddle a horse, cut wood, make things with my hands, navigate with a compass and map, things my father and grandfather taught me. Also, I learned the technology of my day, earned an engineering degree and now have a 30-year career behind me. BUT - I continue to learn. I continue to learn in the ways to get by, and I learn in the things in which I am interested - firearms and training for instance which is how I landed here.

I passed on as much as I could to my son, who is also pursuing a degree toward a career, and he can take care of himself if need be...even if technology fails. I don't blame this generation as much as their parents and grand parents. My son knows because I taught him.

 

[jwh20]

If you've been to Jack-in-the-Box you see the future of counter help in the fast-food industry. They have a kiosk that takes your order and your money and you don't have to repeat yourself. Raising the minimum wage will just accelerate the deployment of this sort of device.

 

[Regionnus Rattis]

As I stood dumbfounded while a checker at the local store tried to figure out how much change to give me on $20.40 for $18.40 of merchandise today, I thought to myself "we should really pay these people more." Instead, I left happily with my $8.40 change.

You mean the cash register told the checker to give you back $8.40? Man, I gotta go there and buy $184.00 of stuff then!

 

[indiucky]

In my case, it was cleaning the meat department and cutting up carcasses for.....gas and date money.

Good times...