Never
having worked in a fast-food restaurant, I really have no clue how
challenging or rewarding it is to work in that “field.” I put “field” in
quotes because saying “Welcome to McDonald’s,
can I take your order?” isn’t something most people strive to recite
every day as part of their long-term career goals. Is it yours?
Well, you would think that some employees working at fast-food joints
feel that their positions are prestigious – maybe even just as
glamorous as an entry-level administrative job where employees, who
dress to the nines every day, make $10 an hour or more. Do fast-food
employees deserve to make the type of salary – as much as $15 an hour –
as some “professionals”? I recently questioned the demand for wage
equality for fast-food workers – and retail employees – who spend long
days and countless hours dealing with the public. The closest many
lowpaid workers will come to achieving some sense of corporate success
is if they become a manager or assistant manager at the establishment.
I’m
going to make a general assumption and say that most fast-food workers
are either high school or college students simply trying to make some
extra money as they pursue their goals. They’re not striving to remain
in the fast-food industry for the rest of their lives with hopes that
they can comfortably retire with a pension. If you’re working as a chef
in the back of Wendy’s, will you get a pension? What kind of financial
future are you actually securing?
Now that I’m reading the feeds about the nationwide strike that
thousands of low-paid workers are participating in to fight for wage
equality in at least 58 cities, I reconsidered the foundation of what
they’re fighting for.
Sorry to offend those who got their first job at a Wendy’s or Burger
King – or even a retail shop where you’re stocking shelves and sorting
out inventory. I’m just not sure the quality – and sometimes quantity –
of work carried out by low-paid workers warrants what they’re fighting
for. To raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour is
reasonable. I’m not saying low-wage workers are worth less than
professionals in other fields, but let’s get real. When you’re getting
trained to work in a place like KFC, the basic skills you probably need
to succeed are customer relations, working the registers, counting money
and operating culinary machines.
Do low-wage employees spend years working for their degrees to
advance in the task of dispensing coffee, soft drinks and milkshakes?
While I agree that they spend tireless hours on their feet doing what
many would consider pure torture, it’s THEIR decision to not better
themselves by saving their hardearned money and to go to school so they
can earn a better salary. As I’ve mentioned in my prior columns, I
worked in a retail store in the city for four awful years. Yes, I should
have gotten paid more to unload boxes, count envelopes and deal with
upper class clientele who were hard to deal with while trying to find
the right wedding invitations. But since I was working my way through
college (and received some government help for tuition and books), I
knew I wanted BETTER for myself.
Sure, everyone needs a job – and there are retired individuals and
plenty of students who are happy just making a couple of hundred dollars
each week for pocket money. But for low-wage workers to demand
unionization with higher wages makes me question what’s in store for
true professionals, who may have advanced administrative, technological,
finance and bookkeeping skills that can afford them the opportunity to
earn a real living. It’s honestly insulting to think that someone with
fewer marketable skills, fewer years of professional experience and
fewer professional goals would make just as much – if not more – money
than someone like myself, who spent years working their way to the top
of a company.
The only way I would support low-wage workers getting more
money is if they’ve been with the establishment for decades and they’ve
remarkably helped advance the industry.
USA Today noted that, in many
situations, some fast-food positions are now held by adults, “some of
whom were laid off from much better paying positions during the
recession.” Really? So you worked for a big bank – where hundreds of
thousands of dollars were at stake and you were in an intense position,
working overtime for corporate big wigs....Now you’re behind a counter
asking “Do you want fries with that?” and you expect to make almost the
same amount of money?
Calling for economic justice and expecting to make a huge salary
while working in the fast-food industry – when the job requirements
aren’t that challenging – seems unrealistic. I think $9 an hour is a
decent raise in minimum wage – even $10, since transportation, food and
other mandatory expenses have inflated in the past few years.
To take to the streets and demand to be unionized, and possibly earn
what a starting professional earns, is extreme. They should be marching
for safer work conditions and some type of protection from possibly
dangerous customers.
I’m not quite “Luvin’” the idea of marching through the streets for a
job that can be classified as less professional than other career
paths. Since you won’t always “Have It Your Way” when you’re being
served at some of these places, think about how much you’re worth and
how hard you worked to get to where you are – and if you’d be happy
knowing someone who does a lot less makes exactly what you do!
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