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UNIONS

Should Fast Food Workers Unionize?

High turnover industry sees strongest push for unionization yet

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by PolitixMayday

Staff Writer t

Image: AP

A number New York fast food workers are looking to unionize their respective workplaces in an effort to double their wage from slightly above minimum wage ($7.25 in New York) to $15.

The fast food industry's high job turnover rate has usually kept unionization at bay, but a recent walk-out is the biggest unionization effort in American history, promoters say. Additionally, as the Atlantic notes, the age of fast food workers is growing older, changing the traditional view of such jobs as employment for teenagers.

The push for unionization, called "Fast Food Forward" is organized by New York Communities for Change, United NY, and the SEIU.

Proponents of unionization say most employees at restaurants like Wendy's, McDonald's, and Burger King can't afford a basic living necessities like food, rent, and transit fares. Such minimum wage earners tend to rely on public assistance as well.

Opponents say raised wages would add at least one to two dollars to the cost of a sandwich, Reuters reports.

Via the New York Times
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Would you like to see fast food workers unionize?

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Comments (view in Forum)

  • martydotcom
    !
    Well this is one job category that can't be moved off shore. But maybe a union would keep the illegals from the trash bagging and dumpster management roles they currently hold down in most franchises.
  • Malitia_Man
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    @martydotcom

    The illegals is what's destroying unions in the first place... So as long as there are illegals, then there will still be a steady decline in private companies unionizing...
  • Fishbone345
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    @Malitia_Man So, you are saying that the Right should start supporting illegals? There ya go NEO! Something you can jump behind.
  • martydotcom
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    @Malitia_Man just viewed employment survey on the site. The income growth bets even 78 and current for labor almost nil. CEO's +750% number of private sector union 7%. Have to wonder why blue collar GOP & Tea Party types are so anti union. The unions created the middle class that formerly existed in the 50's- mid '80's. The middle class laborer is a memory and not due solely to illegals. Illegals where I live in S. Fl tend take back breaking labor jobs no one wants. Why a union can't win in Walmart escapes me. Counterpoint successful companies like Publix and Starbucks that've such a benevolent caring management union doesn't stand a chance
  • Malitia_Man
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    @Fishbone345

    No! I'm saying I said nothing like that! I said we have an illegal PROBLEM!!! And I think it should be up to the American people in general to decide on how we need to approach it!!
  • View all 19 replies >
  • martydotcom
    !
    try and get your facts straight, Hostess failed due to the unwillingness to invest in plant and equipment, poor management, over the last 7 years there have been multiple CEO's and staffs with great golden parachutes, all sucking the corporate teat dry and then after labor consented to givebacks they declared bankruptcy several times. This was said by a prospective bidder to take over the company
  • o
    Republican5001
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    @martydotcom management doesn't have to concede and all labor can be replaced. Stockholders and shareholders felt it was in their best interest to close the doors in order to minimize expenses on labor salaries, zero sum gain. This is what unionization will get you. Unemployed.
  • martydotcom
    !
    @Republican5001 At last report there are over 100 potential bidder;s who have signed non disclosure forms to review the books . A significant sum must be put down to gain access to the book. Management simply decided to cash out and line their pockets. Bankruptcy court the sum of the sale of the parts will exceed the value of the total... Nearly all biz commentators (including Fox) who have reviewed the company's past history attribute the downfall to poor management. I think you have a tough case blaming the unions on this one.
    From that sewer of" liberal thinking" Forbes:
    " The obvious problem is leadership kept trying to sell the same products, using roughly the same business model, long, long, long after the products had become irrelevant.“Demand was never an issue” a company spokesman said. Yes, people bought Twinkies but NOT at a price which would cover costs (including debt service) and return a profit. Demand statements are irrelevant if you are giving the product away!"
  • DrFunkenstein
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    I agree, look at Hostess! The CEO and all upper management took 300% raises while that dirty union and those lazy workers that do all the work agreed to take pay cuts and loss of benefits! The Union was way too greedy! Those workers should have taken a 90% cut in pay so the CEO and Upper Management could have taken a 7000% pay increase, what don't those stupid poor people understand about the Rich controlling the country! BOO ON UNIONS!!!! I swear if it weren't for misinformation and incredibly stupid people, the rich wouldn't get away with any of this crap. I guess welfare recipients like yourself don't care about the plight of the low wage working man.
  • View all 24 replies >
  • bsking
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    the unions are nothing more then organized crime syndicates that work for the DNC. so after they destroy the hamburger industry by charging 7.85 cents for a .89 cent burger, they will expect the government to bail them out...just like the auto industry.
  • LGRepublican
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    @Cool_voter Unions protect their own skin first and foremost. If the "worker" has to sacrifice to ensure the power of the union, they could care less.
  • o
    Cool_voter
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    @LGRepublican so what about when the workers need someone on their side. Have you forgotten the good they have done to this country. Without unions we wouldn't have a high set min. Wage, workers rights, or decent work conditions!
  • bsking
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    @Cool_voter no they really don't protect workers rights. they protect workers jobs so that they can scam off the top of the workers salary. I know all I need to know about the Union Son.
    the union is money laundering operation for the Democratic National committee as well as other underworld organizations.

    the union is good at controlling its workers and keeping them in the same job they started at 20 years ago.
  • stepped_in_it
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    Was in unions for 20+ years. Things I see wrong with unionizing fast food workers.
    1) The work field must be technical enough to shut down or cripple the industry if a "wildcat" or walkout happens. It would take longer to do the paperwork for the "scabs" then train them! Thus, pay = difficulty of job.(and I don't see the difficulty there for "$15 dollars an hour"). >>>>
    2) Most (if not all) fast food restaurants are franchises.....ie small businesses. These are not whole owned major chains like Walmart/Target....etc. The agreements would be with very many "owners" and within states that are "right to work"! >>>>
    Though I understand the plight of the fast food worker, the job is meant to be a "stepping stone" into a better field.
  • MRMacrum
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    If anyone is interested in the notion of history repeating itself, all one has to do is look at the current economic and social changes that have marked the past decade and a half. At the turn of the previous century,19th to the 20th, The stratified culture of the US was basically a 2 tiered system. The middle class was there, but minute in comparison to those below. As the Haves began to line their pockets ever deeper without bringing along the labor they took for granted, what happened? Unions became the driving force to change the two tiered system into a stronger and more healthy 3 tiered one. We are in a similar situation now, only in reverse. The Middle class is shrinking and the Rich are basically staying stagnant but getting richer as the rest of the country falls lower. It only makes sense that a new era of unionization is at hand. The obstinate brush off from the Haves is going to make it happen. If the rich were smart (and some are), they would yield some of their wealth if for no other reason than to stop the emerging impression that they have no interest in the country, but only the profit they can pack away in off shore accounts.
  • Thegrif
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    I see unions as the problem in America. Driving up the cost of everything they do. Paying people who push a wheel barrow 27 bucks and hour is ridiculous, for example. Keeping idiots on the job, unable to fire them cause they are union, for crying out loud, I was on a job not long ago and the union guys had 4 safety meetings everyday, 20-30 min each, then an hour for lunch, and 2 fifteen min breaks, so they really only worked 4.5 hours a day, so whats that? 22.5 hours of actual work a week, but they get paid for 40, thats BS. Don't even get me started on the union big wigs who are loaded, living off those guys paying their union dues, and all the back room little deals they make.
    Think the rich just sit back and get richer, well do what they do, assume ALL the risk of what they do, invest or gamble with your time and money and bet on yourself ( not talking about you personally) and maybe it will work and you become wealthy.
    All I know is there are lots of men making $10 an hr. that would love the idea of doin 4.5 hrs work ($45.) but get paid for 8 hrs work ($80.).
    So the rich and the workers do the same thing, make 2 times the money for half the work. The rich just gamble bigger so the return is bigger
  •
    MRMacrum
    !
    @Thegrif - The total effect unions have on the economy now is a token compared to what it once had. The problems of the economy are a compilation of self inflicted stupidity from Management, government and banking. The union movement was stopped in its tracks during Reagan's tenure.

    In 2011 the percentage of union workers in the US workforce amounted to 11.8 %. In 1983 union membership accounted for 20.1% of all jobs......

    The average union weekly pay has dropped from $938/week to $729/week in one year. I have read even more drastic drops, but I went with this one. All agree that union pay is on the decline......

    If it suits you to believe that less than 12% of the working population is totally to blame, I say go for it. But you are just fooling yourself while trying to fool others.

    Regardless, I have no opinion of whether unions are good or bad. I see them as both depending on circumstances. Possibly a perfect storm that will see unions come back because management seems to be disregarding the value well treated employees have on their bottom line. I only point out that if unions come back, management will be responsible for it happening.
  • Thegrif
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    @MRMacrum never said unions were totally to blame. Just that they are BS.
    And now I am retired, semi-retired, and make a living fixing union screw- ups. Guys that are suppose to know their trade, yet I have jobs on the books and I kill myself trying to get them fixed and right.
    So I am no fan of unions.
  • MRMacrum
    !
    @Thegrif - "I see unions as the problem in America." .......

    How am I to interpret that statement? "the problem" ? If you meant to say part of the problem, I would still say at this point in our economic tough times, unions have very little to do with our current issues. Their influence has gone down hill steadily since the 1980s at the least.

    I was a teamster back in the day when unions definitely had more power than they do today. My experience was less than pleasant. The local I belonged to was more interested in my monthly dues than backing me up when management contrived allegations against me. If I was going to condemn all unions because of my personal experience as a member and also as an independent trucker, it would not be a fair analysis. I cannot deny the good unions did for the working folks of this country back in the early to mid 20th century. Sure there have been and still are union abuses. But their influence is negligible in the bigger picture of our current economic woes.

    I will always believe that if Unions make a comeback it will be because management is being very stupid. You can only "let them eat cake" for so long before metaphorical royal heads roll. This is one consistent truth history shows us on a regular basis.
  • View all 6 replies >
  • MarkJM
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    If they Unionize, say goodbye to those dollar menus. And as if the quality in fast food was crappy enough as it is now, a unionized fast food workforce would only lower the bar.
  • stepped_in_it
    !
    Don't much care for the "dollar menu". In fact, if the fast food industry had to survive off of me and people like me, most would shut down. They're lucky if I peruse their establishments once a month or less. Bring my own lunch to work, cook (mostly) at home where it's better for me and over all think the costs are outrageous for more quality.
  • MarkJM
    !
    @stepped_in_it I agree. I stopped going to McDonalds a Long Time ago. Every once in a Blue Moon I may go to an Arby's or Taco Bell or whatnot, but much like you I do my own grocery shopping and cooking. Another reason I don't eat fast food, I saw this video earlier:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch...

    While the sandwiches eventually go bad those McDonalds fries look exactly the same as the day they were purchased two months later. I don't want that going into my body.
  • Thegrif
    !
    It just frost my buns.
    They take the job with full knowledge of what it pays, then after a while they cry it aint enough. The way I see it, it is fine to ask for a a raise, but if you don't get it you are free to quit and search for greener pastures, or keep working.
    To me, to strike- is to be fired.
  • u
    norezen
    !
    Yeah, as more and more people get desperate for a job, any job, more people with serious financial needs taking jobs that used to be for young people who wanted disposable income.
    Should they unionize? Sure. Fast food wages are really low and the jobs do look really difficult. If the companies won't provide higher wages voluntarily, then I support the workers. Companies like these pay the lowest wage possible while keeping staffed enough to stay in business regardless of how much profit they make. So even if the franchise is making $2 million a year in profit after all expenses, they still don't give raises. In those cases, a union is the only chance workers have at a fair share of the wealth they help create.
  • DerivePI
    !
    "Excuse me, could you hand me my order? I've been waiting here for 10 minutes looking at my burger and fries on the ready tray" ---
    "I'd like to, but its not in my job description" ---
    "Well where's the guy that took my order?" ---
    "He's on his mandatory 15 minute morning break. He should be back in 20 minutes." ---
    "Well can any of those other 6 guys standing around in the back help me?" ---
    "No, they just cook the food"
  • u
    Anne
    !
    Unions are so corrupt. No I don't want to see any more of them. They are leaches who pray on the American worker and they have a huge lobby and work to make this country the mess it is in now. No unions are not for the worker but for the big wigs like that fat looser who visits the WH every day and who got this moron re elected!
  • lawnmowrman
    !
    I"m all for unions but union members should have a skill worth selling. The problem with fast food is that they expect a worker to provide the amount of labor their paid to provide and work the rest of the hour for free. I'm not going to provide $10 worth of labor per hour when I'm only being paid minimum wage to do it. That's theft of labor.
  • Dan_Tien
    !
    It would increase the cost of doing business and so also the cost of food orders, decrease the amount of business, make it more difficult for young people just entering the job force to find work, and the increase in pay would likely get diverted into union dues.
  • WMCOL
    !
    While the vast majority of companies that go belly-up or move offshore are NON Union, Fast Food should fight to maintain the speed of service and low prices in the interest of the general public, which is a greater good than having to price themselves out of business by doubling wages.

    Fewer employees, reduced hours of operation, along with slower service are inevitable if salaries are doubled.
  • Ashstop
    !
    Union membership is steadily decreasing, the unions are the ones behind all this, they want dues, like Walmarts, they would get billions of $ in new union dues a year if they could unionize them, they aren't interested the welfare of the worker, just the revenue they would bring in.
  • u
    Hireman
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    They can unionize if they want, but it'll change it from "fast food" to "it'll get there when we're good and ready food, you'll pay more, and if you don't buy it, we'll picket you too food".
  • Tralee
    !
    No, unless we want the fast food business to go out of business. The reason they are popular is because the are inexpensive and fast (most of the time). Add unions and these poor kids will get a bit of a raise, but then pay it all back in dues. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but a career selling hamburgers in a fast food joint is probably not high on anyone's to do list. Manage one, sure, but just working behind the counter is not a career choice for most people. It's a way to make a bit to pay for school or extend the family economy. The unions would love all those extra dues, still so many democrat politicians to purchase and only so much money to go around.
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