Fast-food workers in Detroit walk off job, demand $15 an hour

[aGameOfThrones]

(Reuters) - Hundreds of fast-food employees in Detroit walked off the job on Friday, temporarily shuttering a handful of outlets as part of a growing U.S. worker movement that is demanding higher wages for flipping burgers and operating fryers.

The protests in the Motor City - which is struggling to recover from the hollowing out of its auto manufacturing sector - marked an expansion in organized actions by fast-food workers from ubiquitous chains owned by McDonald's Corp, Burger King Worldwide and KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut parent Yum Brands Inc.

Fast-food workers, who already have taken to the streets in New York, Chicago and St. Louis, are seeking to roughly double their hourly pay to $15 per hour from around minimum wage, which in Michigan is $7.40 per hour.

Organizers said more than 400 people turned out for the Detroit event, the most to date.

They also said the walk-outs forced the temporary closures of two McDonald's restaurants, a Burger King, a Subway, a Long John Silver's and a Popeyes in Detroit - a claim some chains disputed.

Outside a Burger King on 8 Mile in Detroit, employee Claudette Wilson said she's tired of poor wages, especially at a time when the fast-food industry continues to grow.

"I make minimum wage, which is what I made when I started working in fast food three years ago," the 20-year-old college student said. "I can't understand how the industry is growing but our wages aren't."

"People can't make a living at $7.40 a hour," said Rev. Charles Williams II, a protest organizer. "Many of them have babies and children to raise, and they can't get by with these kind of wages."


http://news.yahoo.com/fast-food-workers-detroit-walk-off-job-disrupt-200200722.html

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

I don't blame 'em. $7.40 an hour is nothing. I'd rather collect welfare. Oh wait, that's what millions already do!

[FrankRep]

lol, Detroit


Detroit Takes Top Spots On List Of Most Dangerous Neighborhoods In America (http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/04/30/detroit-takes-top-3-spots-on-list-of-most-dangerous-neighborhoods-in-america/)

CBS
April 30, 2013

[bolil]

Wanting more of a dwindling pie. What happens when only fast food jobs exist?

I wonder how many taco bell tacos would be worth a Big Mac on the coming Detroit Free Market.

[pcosmar]

I would love to make $7 an hour.

Hell..$5 an hour. but no one will hire me.

[DamianTV]

I would love to make $7 an hour.

Hell..$5 an hour. but no one will hire me.

Its not just you, the jobs simply dont exist because Employers cant afford to hire any Employees due to continued Govt meddling in everything.

Socialism is the Great Lie where everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else.

[Rocco]

I'd give em about 3 hours to get back to work and then fire all of them. Like hell you deserve $15 an hour to work a drive through. You think they can't find someone else who will accept $7.15? Morons.

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

I would love to make $7 an hour.

Hell..$5 an hour. but no one will hire me.


Call me crazy, but I bet you could make more than $7 an hour by making quality message board posts.

[Keith and stuff]

The irony is that Detroit is 1 of the least expensive places to live in the US by the numbers. I know, that excludes the cost of crime. It is an extremely dangerous place by rent is very little and there are tons of community gardens. I can totally see people in NYC complaining about only making $8 an hour. In Detroit though, you can live on that just fine.

[Michigan11]

Well I think Detroit has become a damn embarassment just like most of this country has become, due to this centrally controlled economy, in which todays wages are literally peanuts, and the people should be raising some hell to be honest, but directed towards this government. I think we could all agree on that.

$7.40 an hour is meant for teenagers, but when I think back, I was making $120 per day when I was a teenager working at a hunt club, and it was cash. I don't know how anyone even works at a job for $7.40 an hour. It's like the person would be showing up like in a Mad Max movie begging for a couple gallons of gas to get back home with. $7.40 with not taxes taken out is exactly well not even 2 gallons of gas. Think about that, this all relates to our fiat currency people, but these protestors and the masses don't know it yet.

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

Well I think Detroit has become a damn embarassment just like most of this country has become, due to this centrally controlled economy, in which todays wages are literally peanuts, and the people should be raising some hell to be honest, but directed towards this government. I think we could all agree on that.

$7.40 an hour is meant for teenagers, but when I think back, I was making $120 per day when I was a teenager working at a hunt club, and it was cash. I don't know how anyone even works at a job for $7.40 an hour.


The problem is that they can make almost the same amount of 'take home pay' by doing nothing. It's not that the wages are too low. It's that the subsidies for not working are too high.

[tod evans]

Detroit only survives due to free fed money, cut it off!

[Michigan11]

The problem is that they can make almost the same amount of 'take home pay' by doing nothing. It's not that the wages are too low. It's that the subsidies for not working are too high.

It is the subsidies, but it is also the regulations and taxes put on businesses, keeping them from hiring. It's goes even deeper. The subsidies were always there for at least the last couple decades, the free market wage price has been steadily dropping. Therefore we are now at this point where most are sitting at home, sucking up food stamps and getting their big tax refunds at the end of the year for not even paying any taxes.

[NorfolkPCSolutions]

Okay, I gotta chime in here.

I looked for full-time work, with benefits, for two years without success. Worked three shitty jobs at the same time for that span of time. I worked three times as hard as the next guy, and earned less than dick for my efforts. Found a great job that ticked all the boxes - good wage, good benefits for my family - and the plant closed 45 days or so after I came on board.

What's the point?

I thought outside the box. Instead of turning over everything in the plant that wasn't bolted down upside down, I went to the press. I went that afternoon and broke the story, because the plant wanted to keep it quiet. They didn't deserve that luxury, so I made it loud...the AP even picked it up. It went worldwide, including Philly.com, the paper of record where these corporate cocksuckers that bought out the company I worked for, live. It landed on the doorstep of the CEO; he likely read it over his morning coffee.

I received job offer after job offer, as did all my coworkers. I've kept tabs; all save one have found equal, if not better, new jobs. I settled on one that offers better compensation and cheaper benefits. One by one, nearly everyone thanked me for my "courage." Granted, Detroit is a smoldering hole in the Earth (Sorry, Kid Rock & Eminem, Detroit fucking sucks) but we each have a responsibility to improve our lot in life. In the end, only the individual has the power to make that change. Furthermore, the options for those referenced in the OP are extremely limited, for various reasons not worth expanding on in this post, not least of which, simple geographic location.

Life sucks. Get a helmet. I hope they're successful in their endeavor; I know what it's like to earn $7.40/hr in your thirties. I learned from my experience that a lot of folks who find themselves in that situation - and stay there - do so by choice. Some folk choose that life as a consequence of personal choice. Most don't. Those who don't, won't - they find a way out. I'll pray for these folks, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

[Falcon63]

There's a reason they get paid so little: their jobs require zero skill and anyone can do them.

Want more money? Get a better job, improve your skills.

[matt0611]

I don't blame 'em. $7.40 an hour is nothing. I'd rather collect welfare. Oh wait, that's what millions already do!

This.

Sooner or later they will have to start raising wages or else people will just go on welfare and stay home. Then they will start raising prices.

Our system is effed.

[luctor-et-emergo]

They walk off because they want 15$ an hour ?
Sure, whatever they want.

Just as long as they don't complain if somebody else takes over their job after they walked out.
If nobody else wants that job ? Then you can bargain.

[Henry Rogue]

employee Claudette Wilson said she's tired of poor wages, especially at a time when the fast-food industry continues to grow.Yeah, it would not be fun to live on 7.40 an hour, Claudette. Claudette do you think the fast food industry will continue to grow if you and your fellow employees make 15.00 an hour, you may end up with no job when the restaurant closes or maybe it remains open, but you're not the best worker so you are let go. There are no easy answers, you were never given the fundamental tools to work at anything other than a fast food restaurant. You were enslaved from the beginning by your parent or guardian's reliance on public education. Hope you figure things out, but I doubt it. Peace.

[Michigan11]

I think alot of us are missing the point here in the discussion. Those poor bastards working at these shit jobs, are idiots for trying to double their wage, and probably have no hope of any better job. To be honest I would never go thru a drive thru in Detroit, just because I wouldn't trust the food in the first place. The point here is that people in this country are trying to strike at fast food jobs for Christ Sakes. This would have been considered a pretty far out there joke by any comedian just 5 years ago. It's a reminder of how far this country is slipping, when something like this is happening and in the news.

Go back a few years in time, and imagine how ludacris an idea this would sound like. Today it's just another goofy story were driving by but, it's a tell tale sign of the reality we live in and what is coming down the road. Detroit should have been bulldozed a couple decades ago, but it wasn't. It's still there, sort of like that anchor dragging along the bottom while trying to set sail.

In 1991, when I was in high school still, as a teenager we all wanted to work, and there were jobs, yet you wanted to work even at that age in order to buy things you wanted or go places with your friends. In 95', when I had my own trade business, I was hiring new hires at $14 per hour, more experienced at $20 per hour. The $14 per hour was for college aged workers working while going to school. The idea of just working to pay bills to survive is a strange thought. There has to be an incentive in order to work, to save, or get ahead.

As the 90's roared on, I noticed the price of workmans comp insurance and taxes becoming too expensive to be able to just hire people. Won't talk any further about that, but at a roofing company I was managing and selling for down in Florida.... I noticed they are all paying under the table, hell a growing number are. The workers down there are from Guatemala and Mexico, and they were getting $12-14 per hour, working on hot ass roofs in hot ass weather, but they did want some of their hours on their checks so they could get their big $6,000 to $8,000 tax refund CREDITS at the end of the year when they filed tax returns.

The point here is this, this is not capitalism in this country any longer and its giving capitalism a very very very bad name which is working against us. We have fake money that is running it's end course, an over bearing government at all levels on business, and it's all catching up at this point in time. To expand this movement we need to instead reword our arguments, otherwise people are going to continue to point their anger at business, not the government where it rightfully belongs.

[oyarde]

Ahh , I see , they want the Australian minimum wage, ok , but remind them the dollar menu is $10 now.....

[Natural Citizen]

There's sooooo many other things that are deserving of discussion relative to Detroit.

[jclay2]

I think alot of us are missing the point here in the discussion. Those poor bastards working at these shit jobs, are idiots for trying to double their wage, and probably have no hope of any better job. To be honest I would never go thru a drive thru in Detroit, just because I wouldn't trust the food in the first place. The point here is that people in this country are trying to strike at fast food jobs for Christ Sakes. This would have been considered a pretty far out there joke by any comedian just 5 years ago. It's a reminder of how far this country is slipping, when something like this is happening and in the news.

Go back a few years in time, and imagine how ludacris an idea this would sound like. Today it's just another goofy story were driving by but, it's a tell tale sign of the reality we live in and what is coming down the road. Detroit should have been bulldozed a couple decades ago, but it wasn't. It's still there, sort of like that anchor dragging along the bottom while trying to set sail.

In 1991, when I was in high school still, as a teenager we all wanted to work, and there were jobs, yet you wanted to work even at that age in order to buy things you wanted or go places with your friends. In 95', when I had my own trade business, I was hiring new hires at $14 per hour, more experienced at $20 per hour. The $14 per hour was for college aged workers working while going to school. The idea of just working to pay bills to survive is a strange thought. There has to be an incentive in order to work, to save, or get ahead.

As the 90's roared on, I noticed the price of workmans comp insurance and taxes becoming too expensive to be able to just hire people. Won't talk any further about that, but at a roofing company I was managing and selling for down in Florida.... I noticed they are all paying under the table, hell a growing number are. The workers down there are from Guatemala and Mexico, and they were getting $12-14 per hour, working on hot ass roofs in hot ass weather, but they did want some of their hours on their checks so they could get their big $6,000 to $8,000 tax refund CREDITS at the end of the year when they filed tax returns.

The point here is this, this is not capitalism in this country any longer and its giving capitalism a very very very bad name which is working against us. We have fake money that is running it's end course, an over bearing government at all levels on business, and it's all catching up at this point in time. To expand this movement we need to instead reword our arguments, otherwise people are going to continue to point their anger at business, not the government where it rightfully belongs.


Completely agree man. The fact that people are starting to strike at McDonald's just shows how shitty the opportunities for the average joe have become.

[Carson]

What?

I thought we did things Globally now!

Hee. Hee. Global flash-mob (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_mob) but like in reverse.

[COpatriot]

I think a Condescending Wonka meme would fit in perfectly here.

"Oh you're striking because you don't like your wages at Wendy's?"

"Let me know how well that works for you just as soon as I'm finished interviewing your replacements."

[HigherVision]

They walk off because they want 15$ an hour ?
Sure, whatever they want.

Just as long as they don't complain if somebody else takes over their job after they walked out.
If nobody else wants that job ? Then you can bargain.

Word. I think they're overplaying their hand though.

[luctor-et-emergo]

Word. I think they're overplaying their hand though.

That's because of labor unions but more importantly the 'power' that government claims to have in regulating the labor market and the corrupted nature of politics. This is partially a remainder of the free market but much more a consequence of popular thought towards rights. This is because people think they have a right to take from other people. There are off course many more factors to this story, and I don't want to judge on the legitimacy of their 'strike'. Generally the free market version of strikes have been perverted into legal bullying and extortion of businesses for short term benefits.

[DamianTV]

Unions vs Employers: when either side gains too much power, the system is Unbalanced. Govt intervention prevents that balance from correcting itself.

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

It is the subsidies, but it is also the regulations and taxes put on businesses, keeping them from hiring. It's goes even deeper. The subsidies were always there for at least the last couple decades, the free market wage price has been steadily dropping. Therefore we are now at this point where most are sitting at home, sucking up food stamps and getting their big tax refunds at the end of the year for not even paying any taxes.

Completely agree, but you were talking about an isolated price of labor. (willing to work for a certain wage or not.) So I was responding to that factor in isolation. If we throw everything into the mix, we have endless problems and no solution for any of it.

Now, that doesn't mean there's no way out... it's just that you eat an elephant one bite at a time, so sometimes you have to look at a giant fucked up situation by isolating one fucked up problem at a time.

[Michigan11]

Completely agree, but you were talking about an isolated price of labor. (willing to work for a certain wage or not.) So I was responding to that factor in isolation. If we throw everything into the mix, we have endless problems and no solution for any of it.

Now, that doesn't mean there's no way out... it's just that you eat an elephant one bite at a time, so sometimes you have to look at a giant fucked up situation by isolating one fucked up problem at a time.

I see what you mean by the analogy of the elephant. Sometimes I wonder if it were possible to just paint a picture and then others would see it and go WTF was I thinking before. I guess it is best to zero in on a specific in a debate.

[FallOfTheWest]

"Many of them have babies and children to raise".

gee, why don't you stop having kids then? Or don't begin to have any if you can't support them

[Jamesiv1]

Call me crazy, but I bet you could make more than $7 an hour by making quality message board posts.
lol

[Henry Rogue]

"Many of them have babies and children to raise".

gee, why don't you stop having kids then? Or don't begin to have any if you can't support them
Making babies is a source of income for some and a great bargaining chip.

Peace.

[Michigan11]

Making babies is a source of income for some and a great bargaining chip.

Peace.

So true and you know what if we could just get these lossers having all these kids they cant afford to vote for liberty we'd have a path to freedom very soon. If there are any people thinking meh I don't know if I could do that, just do it people. We need more liberty peeps in our flock!


J/K but seriously LMAO

[Carson]

I can't remember the first minimum wage for sure. I'm sort of thinking $1.18 when I was delivering papers. Somewhere I'm thinking $1.35 about 1968 and when I started pretty steady in the 70's $1.80.

If you use the Silver & Gold payment calculator to see just what one of those figures is worth after all the years of our wages being at the mercy of the counterfeiters, lets just see how out of line a Global Wage Reset is warranted.

http://www.silverandgoldaremoney.com/

Guesstimates for

1964 or so;

$1.18 = $20.10 an hour

The figure above may be misleading by about about 25% on the low side(?) but they are still way up there. It is calculated on the pre 64 coins having 0.715 troy ounces (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_silver).


If you go by Robert Sahr's chart below in the embiggen section maybe it would be more like 26 times or $30.68


If you go a different route and use the latest Dow Jones Industrial average of 15,000 to calculate that they have counterfeited the money supply about 30 times over since stocks were a flat-line when we used real money, you would get a figure of around $35.40 an hour.

Kind of confusing except for the part that they have systematically been working us over for decades. Globally.


The global conspiracy in regards to the nations of the worlds immigration laws is no accident.

[dannno]

Good for them, they should demand higher wages, especially if enough of them feel that way. I doubt $15 is the market rate, though. We'll see how quickly they are replaced.

[Southron]

Can you even get an honest day's wage for an honest day's work anywhere in Detroit anymore?

[Brian4Liberty]

(Reuters) - Hundreds of fast-food employees in Detroit walked off the job on Friday, temporarily shuttering a handful of outlets as part of a growing U.S. worker movement that is demanding higher wages for flipping burgers and operating fryers.

Supply and demand.

[Wolverine302]

No, you cannot live on $7/hr in Detroit, or anywhere. please stop spewing out garbage.

[heavenlyboy34]

"Many of them have babies and children to raise".

gee, why don't you stop having kids then? Or don't begin to have any if you can't support them
What? Behave responsibly? This is 'Murica, son. We don't do that here.

[FrankRep]

No, you cannot live on $7/hr in Detroit, or anywhere. please stop spewing out garbage.

Why would an adult choose Fast Food as a career choice? Let the teenagers and college kids do the fast food jobs.

[VIDEODROME]

Why would an adult choose Fast Food as a career choice? Let the teenagers and college kids do the fast food jobs.

Not sure if serious.

[bolil]

Not sure if serious.

Not sure if confusion is authentic.

[Aeroneous]

It's factor supply and factor demand. You don't have a bargaining chip if there are a plethora of other people willing to work at the lower wage.

I have zero sympathy for these people. She was still making minimum wage after three years in the industry? Shocker.. who would have thought that Burger King wouldn't have massive performance increases each year? Your life is what you make of it. If you put forth the effort in an effective fashion, you can improve your situation. I realize that the economic structure in this country isn't perfect, but in a forum where we are supposed to be advocating personal responsibility/freedom there seems to be entirely too much blame placed outside the individual in this discussion.

If these people want more money they should invest their time more wisely. Walking off the shift isn't going to entice a fast food chain to double your salary. Why not try getting an apprenticeship in a trade of some kind as opposed to crying in the street? Perhaps look into a vocational school for an in demand skill? Hell.. join the peace corps and expand your skill set that way. Do something that's actually constructive for your resume.

Otherwise, get your whiny ass back inside and get cracking on my McFlurry. Don't skimp on those M&Ms either.

[torchbearer]

strikes don't work if the amount of training required to do your job is a day or two.
that means almost everyone in society is probably qualified to do it, making the labor pool for fast food positions quite large.
in a free market, the job probably isn't worth minimum wage, and probably would only be done by high school kids, with young adult management.

[Henry Rogue]

I can't remember the first minimum wage for sure. I'm sort of thinking $1.18 when I was delivering papers. Somewhere I'm thinking $1.35 about 1968 and when I started pretty steady in the 70's $1.80.

If you use the Silver & Gold payment calculator to see just what one of those figures is worth after all the years of our wages being at the mercy of the counterfeiters, lets just see how out of line a Global Wage Reset is warranted.

http://www.silverandgoldaremoney.com/

Guesstimates for

1964 or so;

$1.18 = $20.10 an hour

The figure above may be misleading by about about 25% on the low side(?) but they are still way up there. It is calculated on the pre 64 coins having 0.715 troy ounces (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_silver).


If you go by Robert Sahr's chart below in the embiggen section maybe it would be more like 26 times or $30.68


If you go a different route and use the latest Dow Jones Industrial average of 15,000 to calculate that they have counterfeited the money supply about 30 times over since stocks were a flat-line when we used real money, you would get a figure of around $35.40 an hour.

Kind of confusing except for the part that they have systematically been working us over for decades. Globally.


The global conspiracy in regards to the nations of the worlds immigration laws is no accident.This got me thinking about other prices Carson. What would be the adjusted price of things you would by with those adjusted wages? Just curious, don't get me wrong I am not an advocate of paper fiat.

[Seraphim]

Maybe if their production was that of furniture, textile, clothing....they'd get their 15$....15$ an hour for producing cheap burgers? MMMMMMKKKKKKKAAAAAAYYYYYY

[Bruno]

Maybe if their production was that of furniture, textile, clothing....they'd get their 15$....15$ an hour for producing cheap burgers? MMMMMMKKKKKKKAAAAAAYYYYYY

And if they all got $15 and hour, the burgers would no longer be cheap.

[PaulConventionWV]

I'd give em about 3 hours to get back to work and then fire all of them. Like hell you deserve $15 an hour to work a drive through. You think they can't find someone else who will accept $7.15? Morons.

That's what I think. I worked in fast food before, and I never once thought that I deserved more than minimum wage just because I could use the money. $15 is ridiculous. These people have absolutely no idea what they are asking for because $15/ hour would put most stores out of business. Ask for $8 per hour or something, but they obviously don't understand how business works if they really thought $15/ hour was reasonable.

[Seraphim]

12$ double cheeseburgers...and then no jobs.


And if they all got $15 and hour, the burgers would no longer be cheap.

[phill4paul]

Maybe if their production was that of furniture, textile, clothing....they'd get their 15$....15$ an hour for producing cheap burgers? MMMMMMKKKKKKKAAAAAAYYYYYY

No. Because the furniture, textile, clothing corporations would move their operations to a country where they could get $1/hr labor. Like they did.

[madengr]

Easy solution is make EBT (food stamps) work at fast food, then double the EBT benefits to cover the wage doubling. Everyone can sign up for Obamacare too, to cover fatty liver disease, type 2 diabetes, etc from 100% fast food consumption. Detroit will prosper in no time with high paying fast food and healthcare jobs.

[PaulConventionWV]

No, you cannot live on $7/hr in Detroit, or anywhere. please stop spewing out garbage.

It would help if we knew who you are responding to. But yes, it is possible to live on $7/hour in more places you think, if you know what you are doing.

[FrankRep]

No, you cannot live on $7/hr in Detroit, or anywhere. please stop spewing out garbage.
If you need more money, you will need to learn a skill and get a better job. Use Fast Food as a stepping stone.

[torchbearer]

Easy solution is make EBT (food stamps) work at fast food, then double the EBT benefits to cover the wage doubling. Everyone can sign up for Obamacare too, to cover fatty liver disease, type 2 diabetes, etc from 100% fast food consumption. Detroit will prosper in no time with high paying fast food and healthcare jobs.

genius. do it!

[Keith and stuff]

It would help if we knew who you are responding to. But yes, it is possible to live on $7/hour in more places you think, if you know what you are doing.
Someone should have little problems living on $7 an hour in Detriot if healthy. If they used a bike instead of a car, could even afford health insurance. A lot of DC based liberty organizations start off folks at less than that.

On the other hand, I worked in fast food in the 90s and started at $7 an hour.

[osan]

As the 90's roared on, I noticed the price of workmans comp insurance and taxes becoming too expensive to be able to just hire people. Won't talk any further about that, but at a roofing company I was managing and selling for down in Florida.... I noticed they are all paying under the table, hell a growing number are. The workers down there are from Guatemala and Mexico, and they were getting $12-14 per hour, working on hot ass roofs in hot ass weather, but they did want some of their hours on their checks so they could get their big $6,000 to $8,000 tax refund CREDITS at the end of the year when they filed tax returns.


And the companies doing this were taking idiotic risks. When Juan Pablo Cucaracha falls off that hot-ass roof, guess what: you as the business owner are FUCKED. The "authorities" will come down on you like a ton of bricks and you stand a good chance of bidding your business adieux, and possibly your freedom for a while.

And the bit about putting some of the work on the clock makes little sense because that puts them, and YOU on someone's radar.

I cannot believe how fathomlessly stupid people are. Cucaracha wanty worky? Takey 1099ey, take a shovel, STFU, and get to work. Next.

These encroaching regulations are destroying us and will ultimately result in lots of death because our economy cannot stand this forever. We are made war upon and do nothing much about it. That is quite remarkable.

The Globalists are fulfilling their visions of an "equal" world by bringing our standard of living DOWN to the level of the Chinese, rather than theirs up. All the while Theye retain their level of standard and laugh as the gap between us and Themme becomes a chasm. This is power strategy 001 and so few people see it. Likewise remarkable.

[BAllen]

I think alot of us are missing the point here in the discussion. Those poor bastards working at these shit jobs, are idiots for trying to double their wage, and probably have no hope of any better job. To be honest I would never go thru a drive thru in Detroit, just because I wouldn't trust the food in the first place. The point here is that people in this country are trying to strike at fast food jobs for Christ Sakes. This would have been considered a pretty far out there joke by any comedian just 5 years ago. It's a reminder of how far this country is slipping, when something like this is happening and in the news.

Go back a few years in time, and imagine how ludacris an idea this would sound like. Today it's just another goofy story were driving by but, it's a tell tale sign of the reality we live in and what is coming down the road. Detroit should have been bulldozed a couple decades ago, but it wasn't. It's still there, sort of like that anchor dragging along the bottom while trying to set sail.

In 1991, when I was in high school still, as a teenager we all wanted to work, and there were jobs, yet you wanted to work even at that age in order to buy things you wanted or go places with your friends. In 95', when I had my own trade business, I was hiring new hires at $14 per hour, more experienced at $20 per hour. The $14 per hour was for college aged workers working while going to school. The idea of just working to pay bills to survive is a strange thought. There has to be an incentive in order to work, to save, or get ahead.

As the 90's roared on, I noticed the price of workmans comp insurance and taxes becoming too expensive to be able to just hire people. Won't talk any further about that, but at a roofing company I was managing and selling for down in Florida.... I noticed they are all paying under the table, hell a growing number are. The workers down there are from Guatemala and Mexico, and they were getting $12-14 per hour, working on hot ass roofs in hot ass weather, but they did want some of their hours on their checks so they could get their big $6,000 to $8,000 tax refund CREDITS at the end of the year when they filed tax returns.

The point here is this, this is not capitalism in this country any longer and its giving capitalism a very very very bad name which is working against us. We have fake money that is running it's end course, an over bearing government at all levels on business, and it's all catching up at this point in time. To expand this movement we need to instead reword our arguments, otherwise people are going to continue to point their anger at business, not the government where it rightfully belongs.

And if regulations continue to get worse, there will be more of that. I suspect there will be an ever increasing under the table workforce like this. And why not? Government cheats businesses and workers with taxes and regulations, so why not?

[Carson]

This got me thinking about other prices Carson. What would be the adjusted price of things you would by with those adjusted wages? Just curious, don't get me wrong I am not an advocate of paper fiat.


Seems to me the price of everything has went up EXCEPT wages. All of those prices have adjusted up with inflation over the years. Wages have dragged in the gutter.

Take a look at rent. I remember rent around $135.00 a month.

Take a look at gasoline. I remember it running about 17 to 25 cents a gallon for the longest time.

This sign someone made is pretty timeless. It says a lot. The price of gasoline is still running about 17 to 25 cents a gallon if you use real money. At the same time the inflated price if your using the counterfeited currency is changing with the devaluation of the dollar. 17 cents a gallon works out to about $4.42 if you multiply it 26 times to adjust for inflation. Not to far off of the $3.94 it was running the last time I stopped.

http://photos.imageevent.com/stokeybob/morestuff/gas-20-cents.jpg

Note; Real money has been running stable in the background hidden from view all of these years.

Also note; If you got paid at the minimum wage of the 60's your $1.18 an hour in real money, today you could sell it for silver scrap and receive $20.10 in the counterfeited script...which is losing about 8% a year in inflation if you don't spend it real quick.

http://www.silverandgoldaremoney.com/


P.S. Even though I've brought up minimum wage several times this isn't what this is about. This is about people banding together for a fair wage.

[Keith and stuff]

Seems to me the price of everything has went up EXCEPT wages. All of those prices have adjusted up with inflation over the years. Wages have dragged in the gutter.

Take a look at rent. I remember rent around $135.00 a month.
Except that you can rent a room for that amount in Detroit. Heck, even in New Hampshire people are able to rent a room for $150 and $200 a month. You might be able to find something for $100 a month in Detroit.

[FSP-Rebel]

"Many of them have babies and children to raise".

gee, why don't you stop having kids then? Or don't begin to have any if you can't support them

We have a winner!!

[Carson]

Except that you can rent a room for that amount in Detroit. Heck, even in New Hampshire people are able to rent a room for $150 and $200 a month. You might be able to find something for $100 a month in Detroit.

I can remember a whole house for rent for a negotiable $25.00 a month but if you'd been living in it between now and then you may have woke up wearing it.

[EBounding]

Rules to Avoid Poverty, by Walter E. Williams


"Avoiding long-term poverty is not rocket science. First, graduate from high school. Second, get married before you have children, and stay married. Third, work at any kind of job, even one that starts out paying the minimum wage. And, finally, avoid engaging in criminal behavior. If you graduate from high school today with a B or C average, in most places in our country there's a low-cost or financially assisted post-high-school education program available to increase your skills."

[talkingpointes]

I just got the greatest job ever 6 weeks ago at Uhaul. (I think in my life)

Good pay and full-benefits, 401k, stock/ profit sharing dividend, choose my hours, and I work at home.

No pee test, or background check as long as your computer oriented and have good internet access.

I make about 18.00 an hour 30+ hours a week. Which is about 3-4x my bills and with benefits to pay for all my medical coverage, and to top it off it's not insurance it's a high interest medical savings account like at World Markets.

They are still hiring something like 2,100 people - but my god 1 in 4 can make it through the training.

[mello]

"People can't make a living at $7.40 a hour," said Rev. Charles Williams II, a protest organizer. "Many of them have babies and children to raise, and they can't get by with these kind of wages."

These jobs are not meant for people with children. They are meant for teens to get some experience as their first jobs & some spending money. The problem is not the level of minimum wage, it's teens having children & then getting stuck at minimum wage as a full-time careers instead of finishing school.

[Philhelm]

I'd give em about 3 hours to get back to work and then fire all of them. Like hell you deserve $15 an hour to work a drive through. You think they can't find someone else who will accept $7.15? Morons.

Well, that would depend on the value of the dollar...

[Henry Rogue]

Seems to me the price of everything has went up EXCEPT wages. All of those prices have adjusted up with inflation over the years. Wages have dragged in the gutter.

Take a look at rent. I remember rent around $135.00 a month.

Take a look at gasoline. I remember it running about 17 to 25 cents a gallon for the longest time.

This sign someone made is pretty timeless. It says a lot. The price of gasoline is still running about 17 to 25 cents a gallon if you use real money. At the same time the inflated price if your using the counterfeited currency is changing with the devaluation of the dollar. 17 cents a gallon works out to about $4.42 if you multiply it 26 times to adjust for inflation. Not to far off of the $3.94 it was running the last time I stopped.

http://photos.imageevent.com/stokeybob/morestuff/gas-20-cents.jpg

Note; Real money has been running stable in the background hidden from view all of these years.

Also note; If you got paid at the minimum wage of the 60's your $1.18 an hour in real money, today you could sell it for silver scrap and receive $20.10 in the counterfeited script...which is losing about 8% a year in inflation if you don't spend it real quick.

http://www.silverandgoldaremoney.com/


P.S. Even though I've brought up minimum wage several times this isn't what this is about. This is about people banding together for a fair wage.

I can't remember the first minimum wage for sure. I'm sort of thinking $1.18 when I was delivering papers. Somewhere I'm thinking $1.35 about 1968 and when I started pretty steady in the 70's $1.80.

If you use the Silver & Gold payment calculator to see just what one of those figures is worth after all the years of our wages being at the mercy of the counterfeiters, lets just see how out of line a Global Wage Reset is warranted.

http://www.silverandgoldaremoney.com/

Guesstimates for

1964 or so;

$1.18 = $20.10 an hour

The figure above may be misleading by about about 25% on the low side(?) but they are still way up there. It is calculated on the pre 64 coins having 0.715 troy ounces (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_silver).


If you go by Robert Sahr's chart below in the embiggen section maybe it would be more like 26 times or $30.68


If you go a different route and use the latest Dow Jones Industrial average of 15,000 to calculate that they have counterfeited the money supply about 30 times over since stocks were a flat-line when we used real money, you would get a figure of around $35.40 an hour.

Kind of confusing except for the part that they have systematically been working us over for decades. Globally.


The global conspiracy in regards to the nations of the worlds immigration laws is no accident.


I can remember a whole house for rent for a negotiable $25.00 a month but if you'd been living in it between now and then you may have woke up wearing it.
Thanks Carson, so this is what I got.
1964 minimum wages 1.18 multiplied by 26 = 30.68 in today's wage.
Whole house rent assumed same timeline 25.00 multiplied by 26 = 650.00 in today's rent.
gasoline assumed same timeline .17 multiplied by 26 = 4.42 in today's price per gallon.
The other prices and wages I don't know what to do with since I do not know the timeline or know what I should multiply them by. Not 26 I'm sure because that would mean 135.00 rent in today's dollars would be 3510.00 and I don't think that's correct. Here is another way of looking at it. Today's minimum wage of 7.40 divided by 26 = .28 in 1964 wages. Thanks again Carson, Peace.

[kcchiefs6465]

Except that you can rent a room for that amount in Detroit. Heck, even in New Hampshire people are able to rent a room for $150 and $200 a month. You might be able to find something for $100 a month in Detroit.
And you can get robbed and shot on your doorstep. And God forbid you leave your house to go to work.. better take your tv with you.

Not to mention they restrict guns. You can barely protect yourself and property.

You would not want to live in some bedbug infested crack house in the city. And that's about all you're going to find for 150-200 a month. I've lived in the cities of $5,000 houses. (to own) Only thing is, the wire, plumbing, meters, water heater, and antique wood is gone. Probably rain damage and mold as well.

[devil21]

Doubling wages would mean doubling food prices. Who's going to pay $11+tax for a Big Mac meal? ha

Sure, you can have your $15/hour as long as you don't mind losing your job in 3 days after the location closes due to no sales.

[kcchiefs6465]

Doubling wages would mean doubling food prices. Who's going to pay $11+tax for a Big Mac meal? ha

Sure, you can have your $15/hour as long as you don't mind losing your job in 3 days after the location closes due to no sales.
Of course they'll never be able to double the worker's wages. They shouldn't have to.

This system is fucked. We're just seeing the effects.

This is mild, IMO. Wait until those on fixed incomes can't afford a month's worth of food. Wait until the average worker can't even afford working week to week. It will end. They have no plans on trying to alter the course so people ought to prepare for it. This is where education is so important, IMO. What system will be set up after the collapse? A more socialistic, less-semi-free market, or something more along the lines of libertarian or minarchist ideals. We are making ground in the war of ideas but more and more people will become dependent on government. As that happens, personal responsibility and sound money might become the minority. Not that it already hasn't.

Moar bread and circuses.

[robert9712000]

LOl,i have 10 years experience in surveying were i run a crew and i do mapping with auto Cad and i only make 14 a hour.If they dont like the wages quit and find a job elsewear

[Carson]

Thanks Carson, so this is what I got.
1964 minimum wages 1.18 multiplied by 26 = 30.68 in today's wage.
Whole house rent assumed same timeline 25.00 multiplied by 26 = 650.00 in today's rent.
gasoline assumed same timeline .17 multiplied by 26 = 4.42 in today's price per gallon.
The other prices and wages I don't know what to do with since I do not know the timeline or know what I should multiply them by. Not 26 I'm sure because that would mean 135.00 rent in today's dollars would be 3510.00 and I don't think that's correct. Here is another way of looking at it. Today's minimum wage of 7.40 divided by 26 = .28 in 1964 wages. Thanks again Carson, Peace.

I've been sort of guessing by using a chart Robert Sahr made based on the Consumer Price Index.

http://photos.imageevent.com/stokeybob/followthemoney/RobertSahrcurrencyvalue.jpg

See how it is sort of flat lined at about $5.00? Then if you jump ahead it peaks out at about $130.00. That means it take about $130.00 what used to take $5.00.

I took another look at the $135.00 rent and am thinking it was about 1970. That base line is at about $25.00. $130.00 divided by $25.00 equals about 5.2. $135.00 times 5.2 would equal a rent of about $702.00 for a duplex or studio apartment.

[Carson]

“If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”

~Malcolm X (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?132690-Bestest-Picture-Thread-EVARRR&p=5020026&viewfull=1#post5020026)

[angelatc]

The irony is that Detroit is 1 of the least expensive places to live in the US by the numbers. I know, that excludes the cost of crime. It is an extremely dangerous place by rent is very little and there are tons of community gardens. I can totally see people in NYC complaining about only making $8 an hour. In Detroit though, you can live on that just fine.

I'm not sure where you're getting your numbers from, because the taxes in Detroit make living there much higher than most places.

[angelatc]

This got me thinking about other prices Carson. What would be the adjusted price of things you would by with those adjusted wages? Just curious, don't get me wrong I am not an advocate of paper fiat.

Apples to oranges. The TV you buy now is not only cheaper - it's far superior.

http://www.aei-ideas.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/basics.jpg

http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/10/access-to-the-good-life-for-low-income-americans-comes-from-the-miracle-of-the-marketplace-especially-manufacturing/

[kcchiefs6465]

Apples to oranges. The TV you buy now is not only cheaper - it's far superior.

http://www.aei-ideas.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/basics.jpg

http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/10/access-to-the-good-life-for-low-income-americans-comes-from-the-miracle-of-the-marketplace-especially-manufacturing/
Well with the advancement of machinary, mining techniques, etc. helps the prices lower. The indented bottoms of the mayonaisse jars help people not realize. There are upgrades to an industry, tricks to a trade. Is there not anything you can think of that could have helped television prices remain relatively the same? (my first sentence is my best guess)

[angelatc]

Well with the advancement of machinary, mining techniques, etc. helps the prices lower. The indented bottoms of the mayonaisse jars help people not realize. There are upgrades to an industry, tricks to a trade. Is there not anything you can think of that could have helped television prices remain relatively the same? (my first sentence is my best guess)

Government! :)

[PaulConventionWV]

Someone should have little problems living on $7 an hour in Detriot if healthy. If they used a bike instead of a car, could even afford health insurance. A lot of DC based liberty organizations start off folks at less than that.

On the other hand, I worked in fast food in the 90s and started at $7 an hour.

That's odd. The minimum wage in the 90s was still around $5.xx wasn't it?

[oyarde]

That's odd. The minimum wage in the 90s was still around $5.xx wasn't it? Someone should find a chart and post it , I cannot remember , but think it was around $3.10 - $3.35 in 1980.In the mid fifties a job that pd $1 an hour was considered a good one.In the 1880's a dollar a day was a good one.

[jbauer]

If we pay them $15/hr will that get them off food stamps? Wouldn't it be a wash sale? Pay them more instead of paying them and giving them all the free $hit? Phone, rent, food etc?

[AGRP]

Is there any wonder why a lot of people in Detroit are drug pushers, crooks, pimps, and prostitutes? They should probably become Canadian citizens and work across the border in their auto industry if they want honest work.

[jbauer]

"Many of them have babies and children to raise".

gee, why don't you stop having kids then? Or don't begin to have any if you can't support them

Got to little ones. (don't take any benefits directly) we're all beneficiary's of indirect government benefits but that's a different topic.

That being said I don't know of very many people with kids that aren't on some sort of government program.

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

Call me crazy, but I bet you could make more than $7 an hour by making quality message board posts.


lol

I was serious. lol. It's actually a job for some people, and I rarely see a post from pcosmar that isn't well thought out or well sourced. People pay for that sort of thing, believe it or not. Not just government agencies (which I know he wouldn't go for), but regular marketers. People pay for content too, and if he doesn't crank out more than $7 worth of content in an hour, I don't know who does.



Seems to me the price of everything has went up EXCEPT wages. All of those prices have adjusted up with inflation over the years. Wages have dragged in the gutter.


Wages, even in the mathematic economic models, pretty much drag behind everything else. That's why RP says "the people who use the money first get the most benefit from it" when he talks about deficit spending/inflation. I don't think there's much disagreement there among economists.

[Carson]

If I was going into the Pawn Stars pawn shop and was hoping to get one hundred for something I would start the bidding asking for two.