Fast food CEO: Minimum wage hikes closing locations

[MisterChester]

He wouldn't be making these statements if the demand for labor was more than the supply, me thinks.

 

[MisterChester]

We have to keep waiting for the trickle down.

US CEOs break pay record as top 10 earners take home at least $100m each | Business | theguardian.com

S&P record.

S&P 500 sets another record closing high on growth bets: Thomson Reuters Business News - MSN Money

DOW record.

Stocks end slightly higher; Dow sets record close - MarketWatch

We sure need to hope that horse and sparrow get together.

CEOs/top management pay and the profits of these companies are higher than ever, yet they don't hire, innovate, or invest.

 

[actaeon277]

They (whoever made that quote in the article) forgot a couple.

* Lower the profit margin. This includes the salary(ies) paid to the 'top brass'.

Wonder if anyone noticed that the AVERAGE CEO salary (which would specifically INCLUDE Andy Puzder, CEO of CKE Enterprises, PARENT company of Carls, Jr. & Hardee's) has just passed $10 million per year? The whole, "If minimum wage goes up we'll go broke" whining is simply

IF the heads of the companies shoved less money in their own pockets (for Puzder, let's say to $5 million), there would be more $$$ to pay those higher hourly wages (in this case alone $5 million / year more) to pay those 'exhorbitant' (LMAO!) minimum wage increases, WITHOUT raising prices one nickel OR cutting employees or employee hours.

As noted before, if minimum wage were equivalent (min. wage $$ vs. cost of living) to what it was in, say 1974, minimum wage would currently be right at $15 / hr. That would mean (or meant) that the hourly minimum wage would've have only needed to rise $.18 / hr (18 cents) per year in the last 4 decades.

18 cents per hour wasn't a 'big raise' in 1974, and even less so in 2014. WHY didn't minimum wage go up that measly $.18 / hr. per year over the last 40 years? Pretty simple. The owners of those companies chose to keep that additional income for themselves rather than include those that actually do the work. That's simply called 'greed'.

Of COURSE, the heads of those companies will respond with, "Why should *I* cut MY profit?!? *I* want every friggin' nickel I can get, who cares about the employees, that's 'their' problem!"

So, WHY should the employees, that have been denied a measly $.18 / hr. raise AND from which the company heads / owners have benefited for more than 4 decades, 'care' about those owners? WHY should those employees care about Puzder?
What, Puzder can't live off of $5 million / yr.? Poor sod...

AT one point in time, a boss who couldn't pay his employees a 'fair wage' was looked down on. Looked like a 'slum-lord' employer. Then, in the last few decades, that 'attitude' reversed to the 'Scrooge' mentality.

I HOPE the minimum wage goes to $15 / hr., where it should be relative to the last 4 decades. The owners HAVE benefited from that negligence for 40 years by skimming off that $.18 / hr. and sticking it in their own pockets.

Don't like it (owners)? Close, or do all the work yourself. Of course, IF ya close, then where's YOUR $$$ coming from? Gonna go work for some other 'slum-lord' employer for minimum wage? Good!

No worries, there'll be a NEW business open, doing the SAME thing you do, the very next day, who'll figure out they CAN pay their employees even $15 / hr. minimum wage AND still be competitive AND still make a profit.

Well, steel mills have consistantly raised wages.
Of course, they AUTOMATED.
My mill makes MORE steel with 5,000 employees than they did with 30,000 workers.
CEOs still make a BUTTLOAD of money.
Wanna explain that again?

 

[actaeon277]

We have to keep waiting for the trickle down.

US CEOs break pay record as top 10 earners take home at least $100m each | Business | theguardian.com

S&P record.

S&P 500 sets another record closing high on growth bets: Thomson Reuters Business News - MSN Money

DOW record.

Stocks end slightly higher; Dow sets record close - MarketWatch

We sure need to hope that horse and sparrow get together.

Funny how people were for Trickle Down when President Kennedy brought it up.

 

[eatsnopaste]

Nailed it

The value that you return to the company isn't how much you are paid, it is what the owner can charge others for your labor. what can you do? You can charge more for your product which is a normal part of the business cycle, you can cut expenses (including labor), you can buy press your suppliers for better pricing, you could
you could diversify your product line...there are many ways to absorb costs, and every time raising min. wage comes up it is always doom and gloom, yet it never happens. Sure some business's will go under but I would imaging they were teetering on the brink already. Is min. wage bad? maybe, is going to 15$ an hour bad..yep. Is going to 8$ an hour for the next 15 years ok...I don't see us losing our corporate infrastructure over it.

 

[Bunnykid68]

So what, the CEO of McDonalds makes 10 million dollars. Divide that 10 million amongst the 300,000 workers in the US alone and what does it add up too? It is sort of like trying to tax the richest people to give free money to the poorest people, there just isn't enough of it to go around. If you do not want to make $8 an hour do something that is worth more than $8 an hour. Baggin groceries, stocking shelves and handing me a Happy Meal arent worth much more than that

 

[Crbn79]

As the owner/president/CEO/secretary...ad nauseum of my "corporation" anyone who tells me to lower my salary/profit margin/"bonus" can go fornicate themselves! That $10 or $8 am hour employee didn't risk a damned thing to work for me, he gets paid whether I make a profit or not. He works the hours allotted and gets his paycheck, some weeks and months I get nothing, yet he is still paid for the hours worked. Did HE start the business, no! Does he work 60 plus hours a week, no! Does he stress over payroll taxes, sales tax, personal property tax, no! Does he worry that there may not be money to put fuel in the trucks so he can do his job, no! His is to simply put in his hours, do his job, go home to his family, and pick up his paycheck on Friday. So far, My employees are under no illusion that the job they do is worth more than they are paid. When it comes that time, I will look for new ones. All this b..ching
about "fair wage" or "living wage" is absurd, when employees put out the same risk as the owners, then they can talk about fair wages. Until then work for what you are paid, if it isn't enough, find someone who pays you more for the same thing!

^ THIS ^

If the CEO of a company with 20,000 employees cut his wages $5m and dumped it into the payroll accounts it would increase their wages by exactly $25 more each year.

 

[Trigger Time]

Most minimum wage workers are lazy as **** and do the bare minimum and don't take pride in their work or try to maximize their efforts. In turn this loses money for their employer and ****s themselves.
Stop hiring pieces of **** employees who can't even make a bigmac with NO PICKLES the right way! Also stop hiring non English speaking (fluent English) managers and workers.
Can't make it you say? Then you have no business owning a business. Excuses excuses!
we are a bare minimum society anymore! No one takes pride in their work or has integrity to give their employers good quality work performance for the agreed upon wage they earn. YOU signed up for the pay, now stfu and work and honor your contact.

 

[level.eleven]

Most minimum wage workers are lazy as **** and do the bare minimum and don't take pride in their work or try to maximize their efforts. In turn this loses money for their employer and ****s themselves.
Stop hiring pieces of **** employees who can't even make a bigmac with NO PICKLES the right way! Also stop hiring non English speaking (fluent English) managers and workers.
Can't make it you say? Then you have no business owning a business. Excuses excuses!
we are a bare minimum society anymore! No one takes pride in their work or has integrity to give their employers good quality work performance for the agreed upon wage they earn. YOU signed up for the pay, now stfu and work and honor your contact.

I wonder why the employees can't speak fluent English?

 

[Vigilant]

I wonder why the employees can't speak fluent English?

Public Schools! (Purple if desired!)

 

[Bunnykid68]

I wonder why the employees can't speak fluent English?

It definitely is not the fault of the employers

 

[BehindBlueI's]

cigs already cost 14.50 in NY

Due to wages or taxes?

Sure, raise the minimum wage. But don't ***** when your milk is $8 a gallon and it costs $20 for a pack of smokes.

How much of the cost of a gallon of milk or pack of cigarettes is wages, and how many in the industry make minimum wage?

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

We have to keep waiting for the trickle down.

US CEOs break pay record as top 10 earners take home at least $100m each | Business | theguardian.com

S&P record.

S&P 500 sets another record closing high on growth bets: Thomson Reuters Business News - MSN Money

DOW record.

Stocks end slightly higher; Dow sets record close - MarketWatch

We sure need to hope that horse and sparrow get together.

I'm all for this. As a guy that's thinking about retiring in a couple of months, it is trickling down....right into my 401K...and I like it.

 

[Classic]

Obviously what is needed here is more government control and regulation. That will do it.

 

[Yup!]

Any business owner that supports the increase can simply start offering $15/$20 per hour, you don't need the governments permission. I assure you, if you offered $20/hr to work the counter at (insert fast food joint here) then you would have more applications than you could screen. You would eventually hire someone with a college degree, and the level of service at your place would go up dramatically.

If you can afford that, then do it. More than likely you will need to pass at least part of that cost off to the customer, so the $1 menu now becomes the $3 menu. It's pretty simple economics, but when it comes right down to it, those who support it can easily start the trend.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

These people aren't represented by a union. Why close locations instead of firing these idiots?

 

[Trigger Time]

I wonder why the employees can't speak fluent English?

Because some are illegal with fake papers. And because instead of employers standing tall and requiring them to speak English they coddle them and give in to their trickery and laziness and speak Spanish back to them. And some think its cool to know another language. Their employees are secretly laughing at them.

 

[2ADMNLOVER]

As the owner/president/CEO/secretary...ad nauseum of my "corporation" anyone who tells me to lower my salary/profit margin/"bonus" can go fornicate themselves! That $10 or $8 am hour employee didn't risk a damned thing to work for me, he gets paid whether I make a profit or not. He works the hours allotted and gets his paycheck, some weeks and months I get nothing, yet he is still paid for the hours worked. Did HE start the business, no! Does he work 60 plus hours a week, no! Does he stress over payroll taxes, sales tax, personal property tax, no! Does he worry that there may not be money to put fuel in the trucks so he can do his job, no! His is to simply put in his hours, do his job, go home to his family, and pick up his paycheck on Friday. So far, My employees are under no illusion that the job they do is worth more than they are paid. When it comes that time, I will look for new ones. All this b..ching
about "fair wage" or "living wage" is absurd, when employees put out the same risk as the owners, then they can talk about fair wages. Until then work for what you are paid, if it isn't enough, find someone who pays you more for the same thing!

What is the turn over rate with your employees ?

Any of'em bother with exit interviews explaining why they leave ?

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

We have to keep waiting for the trickle down.

All I feel like I get is trickled ON.

 

[88GT]

Think I've posted this before

Bring it. It would be an improvement in many cases.

Funny how people were for Trickle Down when President Kennedy brought it up.

Trickle down isn't about CEO pay. Don't fall for the straw man.

Public Schools! (Purple if desired!)

No purple necessary. But there is a difference between native English speakers who can't properly construct a sentence and ESL speakers who simply haven't learned the language. Can't really blame government schools for the latter. And even I will grudgingly admit that government schools are only partially responsible for the former.

These people aren't represented by a union yet. Why close locations instead of firing these idiots?

That might have something to do with it. Pre-emptive blocking?

Might also be punitive. I would do it. But I don't have a capital-intensive business. Easy enough for me to close doors and re-open the next day with a new name.