It wasn’t just the customer’s guilt that started dwindling when McDonald’s announced plans to put tablet-based ordering systems in some of its restaurants across the globe. The higher-ups of the multibillion dollar corporation can breathe a sigh of relief,knowing they hold less responsibility for the ever-growing population of minimum wage workers.
This move will affect thousands of the company’s workers, as there will be less need for the low-wage earners. But because McDonald’s would rather purchase tablets than pay its full-time workers a liveable wage, we can all escape the guilt of confessing our desires for a triple-patty cheeseburger and large fries to another human being.
There’s a lot of debate in our country right now over the current $7.25 minimum wage. Thousands of fast food workers participated in a strike two weeks ago, demanding a higher, more livable minimum wage. More than 400 arrests were made when low wage earners took to the streets in major cities across the country.
Conservatives oppose it, saying the work done is not worth the money being requested. They claim any push to mandate a higher minimum wage will cause a shortage of jobs, as heads of companies struggle to keep their bank accounts stuffed and lay off some workers to balance things out.
They have the nerve to call the 1.6 million minimum wage earners in America the greedy ones. My question is this: What is greed? Is it greedy to want to put food on your family’s table or to make it to the end of the month without anxiously anticipating your rent check bouncing? Or is it greedy to establish a company and have the gall to call it successful based on your own six- or seven-figure bank statement?
The entry-level positions, usually the face and personality of the company, are most often the workers paid the least. And for companies like Starbucks, they’re the ones responsible for all of the company’s profits.
In a forum hosted by the International Socialist Organization called “Why You Should Join the Socialists & Change the World,” a study of Starbucks profits and barista work was cited. Starbucks baristas, making an average of $9 per hour, must make three $5 drinks per hour to pay for their hour of labor and the supplies used to make the drinks.
If a barista makes 200 drinks during the peak business hours, they have made an almost $1000 profit for their company. But they would only see a fraction of that in their paychecks.
Meanwhile, the creators of Starbucks enjoy their financial gains and receive praise for their successful business. But shouldn’t the success of an employee also be factored into the success of the business?
If so, McDonald’s CEO and President Don Thompson should think long and hard before replacing the thousands of workers with robot order-takers. His net worth of $20 million, according to www.celebritynetworth.com, is enough to pay more than 1.3 million hours of workers at their requested $15 per hour.
It’s not a question of whether the full-time workers in entry level food service positions deserve to make $15 per hour. It’s a question of whether a CEO can really call himself successful if a 40-hour work week in his business is not enough for those people selling his burgers and fries to be                                financially secure.
Jana King is  a 20-year-old communication studies junior from Ponchatoula, Louisiana. You can reach her on Twitter @jking_TDR.