Entire IHOP quit in the middle of their shift

[Hammster]

Having worked in the food-care industry, yeah, no. There’s plenty of people working there for forever, it’s also often a “finisher job”.
And it should pay a living wage, regardless.

Why?

 

[Hammster]

The concept in a consumer economy is that the consumers need to make enough money to afford to buy consumer goods.

Henry Ford figured that out a hundred years ago. But these days, companies are rather like the man who killed his golden-egg laying goose.

What if it’s a plastic bottle factory?

 

[Hammster]

What you mentioned wasn't theft at all. It is just a minimum wage.

Which is theft. It’s telling a business owner that he has to pay someone a certain wage, even if that job isn’t worth that amount.

 

[Vylo]

Which is theft. It’s telling a business owner that he has to pay someone a certain wage, even if that job isn’t worth that amount.

That's not theft, that's a social contract that is agreed upon.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Which is theft. It’s telling a business owner that he has to pay someone a certain wage, even if that job isn’t worth that amount.

Who's to say what amount a job is worth?

 

[SimplyMe]

Which is theft. It’s telling a business owner that he has to pay someone a certain wage, even if that job isn’t worth that amount.

But that can be "theft" of the rest of us. If an employer does not pay a living wage, then the worker ends up getting food stamps and other money from the government, meaning it is "theft" from the rest of us; that we're subsidizing that business so he can pay his workers peanuts.

Yes, I know, you'll say various welfare programs are "theft." It doesn't really matter what you think, though, because those programs exist (whether they are theft, or not) and underpaying a worker causes them to end up taking advantage of those programs -- meaning the business owner is stealing from us.

 

[iluvatar5150]

I never said it did, I was just explaining why one pays more than the other.

No. Wendy’s is what you would call a starter job. This is the type of job where they hire people with no work experience, they get skills (working a cash register, cooking, stocking shelves, etc) usually at very low pay, then they take those skills somewhere else that pays more money. Union Grocery stores will not hire you to stock their shelves, or run their cash registers without prior experience, but if you have experience of doing that stuff at Wendy’s, they will hire you for a better wage than Wendy’s pays.
The same for GM; if you don’t know the difference between a torque wrench vs a pneumatic impact wrench, General Motors will not hire you; you will have to go to a starter job, get some skills, then take those skills to General Motors for more pay.

Really? Because Kroger's is unionized and their job listings say no experience required.

Careers at Kroger

Somebody else related his brother's experience working for GM.

Everything you wrote here is wrong.

If somebody wants to work there forever, they will likely get into management and get better pay

"Management" at fast food establishments often entails more hours with little extra pay.

That's not theft, that's a social contract that is agreed upon.

Who's to say what amount a job is worth?

Oh, I see this argument is back for another round.

 

[Ken-1122]

That's considered one of Henry Ford's best ideas...and he became a billionaire.

Henry Ford had lots of ideas, He definitely did not get rich from THAT idea. Do you not see the absurdity in such an idea? Why should the carpenter who works on multimillion dollar houses be paid a wage to afford that house, then paid a fraction of the wage to work on a typical house? Why should someone working on multimillion dollar yachts be able to afford the products he builds?

 

[Ken-1122]

My brother works for GM and they hired him with zero automotive or mechanical experience. They even paid him during his training as an automotive technician. He also didn't have alot of prior experience outside working odd jobs at fan conventions.

There are always gonna be examples of people getting jobs they don't deserve, and others who deserve the job not getting it. But this generally is the exception; not the rule.

 

[Ken-1122]

Really? Because Kroger's is unionized and their job listings say no experience required.

Have you ever tried applying at Kroger without any job experience? When I was a kid I applied at Safeway, Albertsons, and many other stores without any experience. Though they don't require experience, you will be competing with 100 other applicants that do have experience, and they will pick someone with more experience than you for the job. So even though experience is not NECESSARY, you likely won't get hired without it.

 

[FireDragon76]

There are always gonna be examples of people getting jobs they don't deserve, and others who deserve the job not getting it. But this generally is the exception; not the rule.

Don't deserve? That's got nothing to do with it. My point is that companies like GM are willing to train workers, because certain sectors of the economy are in demand as far as jobs go, and its difficult to find people willing to work those jobs, especially among young people (it's not "cool" to be a mechanic among Millenials, it's not the script they got taught in the late 90's when they were coming of age).

 

[Hammster]

Who's to say what amount a job is worth?

The guy paying the bills.

 

[Hammster]

That's not theft, that's a social contract that is agreed upon.

If that were true, it wouldn’t be a law.

 

[Hammster]

But that can be "theft" of the rest of us. If an employer does not pay a living wage, then the worker ends up getting food stamps and other money from the government, meaning it is "theft" from the rest of us; that we're subsidizing that business so he can pay his workers peanuts.

Yes, I know, you'll say various welfare programs are "theft." It doesn't really matter what you think, though, because those programs exist (whether they are theft, or not) and underpaying a worker causes them to end up taking advantage of those programs -- meaning the business owner is stealing from us.

Why on earth do you think an employer is obligated to pay what someone else considers a living wage?

 

[FireDragon76]

The guy paying the bills.

Wage and worth are two separate concepts, just like price and value are not identical.

In the absence of collective bargaining, the guy paying the bills tends to have all the power to dictate wages. That doesn't mean those wages are fair or just.

 

[TLK Valentine]

The guy paying the bills.

That would be the employee -- and the ones at IHOP clearly decided that something wasn't worth it.

 

[Hammster]

Wage and worth are two separate concepts, just like price and value are not identical.

In the absence of collective bargaining, the guy paying the bills tends to have all the power to dictate wages. That doesn't mean those wages are fair or just.

Sure they are. Let’s say that an employee has a job that he thinks is worth $20/hr. He gets some folks, but they either aren’t that competent, or just unreliable. So to get better people, he ups it to $25/hr. Now he gets good reliable people. Those wages are fair and just.

 

[Hammster]

That would be the employee -- and the ones at IHOP clearly decided that something wasn't worth it.

The employees don’t pay the bills.

 

[RDKirk]

The employees don’t pay the bills.

Actually, they do. If they're not...fire them all and have none.

 

[TLK Valentine]

The employees don’t pay the bills.

Ah, but they do have bills to pay -- why on earth do you think they work there?

Here's a hint: If you own or manage an IHOP, and I wait tables or wash dishes there, I don't give a flying fig about your bills; I'm there to pay my own.

Make it worth my while, or else I'll quit and find a better job -- then see how many of your bills you can pay without employees.