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Can the fast food strikes revive American labor unions?

Dooble said:
"If the fast food workers achieve tangible results, it could transform low-wage fast food and retail in the same way that the United Auto Workers (UAW) and other unions helped to transform manufacturing during the 1930s. Their efforts, combined with the stimulative impact of World War II, helped birth a new American middle class and an organized labor Golden Age."

So can they? In light of what happened to Detroit, do we even want a revival of labor unions?

Can the fast food strikes revive American labor unions?
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Any fast food workers on board with this should be fired. Fast food is the lowest rung on the ladder, you don't stay there and demand raises for menial tasks a trained monkey could do, you move up to a better paying job.
 
cpgrad08 said:
or their increase wage would disquilifed them from Government programs which they depend on.
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Wouldn't THAT **** be hilarious!
 
VanceMack said:
Dood...you are talking about FAST FOOD JOBS.

I swear to god...people talking about unionizing fast food jobs, living wages, career progression...WTF is wrong with people?

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unions generally don't form when workers are being treated even slightly well. there's nothing unreasonable about asking for more control over hours worked and increased opportunity for promotion and raises. the businesses benefit, too, because turnover will drop, and the dedicated workers will move up the chain. additionally, the taxpayer would benefit, because right now, you're filling the gap. you might not be paying ten bucks for a big mac, but you're paying the difference in social safety nets. wouldn't you rather that they be able to avoid that by moving up and getting raises?

i like that movie, though.
 
Helix said:
unions generally don't form when workers are being treated even slightly well. there's nothing unreasonable about asking for more control over hours worked and increased opportunity for promotion and raises. the businesses benefit, too, because turnover will drop, and the dedicated workers will move up the chain. additionally, the taxpayer would benefit, because right now, you're filling the gap. you might not be paying ten bucks for a big mac, but you're paying the difference in social safety nets. wouldn't you rather that they be able to avoid that by moving up and getting raises?

i like that movie, though.
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There are certain jobs that are considered 'dead end jobs'. There is no future, there is no career progression, and your worth is related to a-the job qualifications and b-how easily you can be replaced. In industrial jobs, the cost of turnover is approx 7500 per job to advertise, train, and process new hires. For fast food jobs the cost is negligible. A sign in the window. A manager taking 5 minutes to review an application. OJT. Thats about it.

McDonalds (and other fast food chains) BTW HAS an upward mobility program. There ARE people identified as potential management for future corporate stores and they are singled out, sent to training, and given jobs that are well above minimum wage. But the average fast food worker? I can replace him with anyone with a pulse. Id say you could train a monkey to do the job but thats not really true. You CAN however train a mentally handicapped individual to do the job. THAT should tell you all you need to know about McJobs.
 
VanceMack said:
There are certain jobs that are considered 'dead end jobs'. There is no future, there is no career progression, and your worth is related to a-the job qualifications and b-how easily you can be replaced. In industrial jobs, the cost of turnover is approx 7500 per job to advertise, train, and process new hires. For fast food jobs the cost is negligible. A sign in the window. A manager taking 5 minutes to review an application. OJT. Thats about it.

McDonalds (and other fast food chains) BTW HAS an upward mobility program. There ARE people identified as potential management for future corporate stores and they are singled out, sent to training, and given jobs that are well above minimum wage. But the average fast food worker? I can replace him with anyone with a pulse. Id say you could train a monkey to do the job but thats not really true. You CAN however train a mentally handicapped individual to do the job. THAT should tell you all you need to know about McJobs.
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and what you should know about McJobs is that's pretty much all that's available for a lot of people, so many people with families are working them. it isn't just teenage kids anymore. those people are also collecting social aid that you pay for, and they are barely scraping by. if the food service and retail industries don't want the prevalence of union membership to increase and cost them a lot of money, they should nip it in the bud with a few reasonable concessions, such as the ones i suggested. i'm not supporting $15 base pay; that's not realistic. but taking simple measures to treat workers better and to give them more opportunities for raises is reasonable.

eventually workers get pissed, organize, and give you real headaches. smart companies think proactively to keep that from happening.
 
Dooble said:
"If the fast food workers achieve tangible results, it could transform low-wage fast food and retail in the same way that the United Auto Workers (UAW) and other unions helped to transform manufacturing during the 1930s. Their efforts, combined with the stimulative impact of World War II, helped birth a new American middle class and an organized labor Golden Age."

So can they? In light of what happened to Detroit, do we even want a revival of labor unions?

Can the fast food strikes revive American labor unions?
Click to expand...

There was a fast food strike?
 
Where's the poll?
 
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