Fast Food Strikes- Casey Lampert 4th period

In over 100 cities, thousands of fast food and retail workers walked out of their jobs and protested what they call their 'poverty wages'. Fast-food jobs have extended far beyond just teenagers, with 70% now being the primary bread winners for their families. The protesters have been calling for earning $15 an hour, which is more than a 50% increase from the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Those who earn minimum wage end up earning about $15,000 a year, causing most to rely on government support like food stamps. The workers say that this pay increase will allow them to provide and support their families, however, 60% of all jobs created since 2008 have paid hourly wages of $13.83 or less. We can only wait and see how the companies will respond.

I've always thought that the minimum wage was unfair with our growing economy, especially since it hasn't increased in 4 years. As prices for everything else go up, it remains stagnant, which I believe is the fundamental issue to be taken away from this. As much as I do feel for the employees of these franchises, I hope that they understand that by raising their wages to that high of a degree, thousands and thousands of people will have to be laid off and the price of the merchandise/food will have to increase too. Unless, of course, the CEO's and others of the like don't mind splitting their income with their employees. It's unreasonable for them to ask for that much in that short of time, and I hope that this situation will bring a slight pay raise that can be increased over time, but also lets all the employees keep their jobs.

http://news.yahoo.com/fast-food-strikes-hit-nyc--‘we-should-get-more-respect-232115668.html