Night Of The Living Wage

Like many teens, my first job was at a fast-food restaurant. Outside of the itchy polyester uniform and the pounds gained from snarfing up fries, it was an OK part time gig for a high school kid. Today, however, there are many adults whose ONLY job is working in fast food – and the pay is not keeping pace with the cost of grown-up living.

Arguments for and against raising the minimum wage have raged for decades. California just made headlines by raising it to $20 per hour for fast food workers among big chains that have more than 60 locations in the state. This will be of enormous benefit to struggling employees, ultimately putting more money back into the local economy. This bold move by Governor Gavin Newsom has now raised the question, “Can a $20 per hour minimum wage work nationally?”

But the blowback has begun. There are threats of cutting both staff and hours. Many stores are turning to technology, putting in self-ordering kiosks in airports and the like. But is “self-serve” the smartest way to get around paying a decent wage?

In the late 80s, self-checkout began arriving in stores as a way to cut labor costs. CNN noted that it lowered the cost of employing human cashiers by 66 percent. Essentially, it shifted that job onto the customer who did it for free. But now in 2024, many stores are rethinking self-service, mainly due to huge increases in shoplifting. Many people also complain that it’s a slower process and too impersonal versus interacting with a human.

Another big debate around the minimum wage is, do lower labor costs get passed on in the form of lower prices? Nope. Despite staff cuts and increased self-service options at chains like Chipotle or Starbucks, they’ve still raised prices. Same at many grocery stores where food costs continue to go up even with fewer employees. It’s been shown that many food companies raise prices simply because they can. They’ve been using the cover of “inflation,” but it simply boils down to greed (#greedflation).

And speaking of greed, the CEO of McDonald’s was paid $19.2 million in 2023, an 8% increase over his 2022 compensation. That (very) roughly works out to $53,000 per day or $6,500 per hour for an 8-hour day. If he ever had to deal with a Saturday night rush, a counter packed with drunk, angry, impatient customers for $20 or less an hour, he’d be sobbing in the parking lot in about 15 minutes. Or maybe that was just me.

Yes, labor costs are real. But it’s time for a frank look at the how we structure the financials of a business. From grocery stores to fast food or any other customer-facing operation, it’s those on the front lines who keep the wheels turning (or can pull them off). It’s about time they get a livable wage. A $20 an hour minimum wage is an OK start, but it needs to go further.

Cindy Grogan is a writer, lover of history and "Star Trek" (TOS), and hardcore politics junkie. There was that one time she campaigned for Gerald Ford (yikes), but ever since, she's been devoted to Democratic and progressive policies.