According to US fast food staff protests over wages spread globally, the workers in other countries have joined this protest. They mainly want to call for an increase of wage per hour because their salaries today are not enough to pay their bills. In the US, each state has a different rate of minimum wage, so it actually depends on the legislation of each state which could change the rate.
I think this problem is getting bigger because a lot of workers in many nations are not satisfied. Some of them have been working for a fast food company almost twenty years, but their wages per hour have been risen just a little more. It is definitely hard for them. In the US, the workers want to call for $15 per hour which is much higher than today rate (around $7). I think this problem is quite challenging for the US government. The government needs to help them as soon as possible because they have faced this problem for many years. If it could not be fixed for now, the workers' situation might get worse, and this could lead to an economic problem of the nation. In contrast, if the rate of wages are changed to be as high as that of the workers' demand, it must cause a problem of many big companies. These companies might discharge their employees or force them to resign in order to reduce expenses. It is clear that this change is going to cause a problem for both sides.
To find a solution, I think it is possible to rise wages step-by-step. If it was doubled as high as that of the workers' call, the companies have to spend a lot of many due to this change. In addition to this, many business owners will not be able to run their business in this situation. They might sell their business and many employees could lose their job. However, if the wages are increased step-by-step, and the government limits the highest rate depending on a period of time limited, everyone would be able to change their dues slightly. This solution would probably not cause any new problems. So, it is time for the government to pay a kindly attention on it.
This change definitely helps the workers' life, and one thing that it also benefits is decreasing an income gap. People are waiting for the solution which could help the workers and improve an economy of a country.
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I enjoyed reading Wann's informative post, but I don't really agree with some of the suggestions in her response.
ReplyDeleteThe employment is an agreement between two private parties: the fast food company, such as McDonalds, and their employees. Why should the government have any involvement at all? In a non-communist type state, shouldn't private individuals and groups be free to make their own agreements as they want?
We might expect government control of wages in communist states like North Korea, even Vietnam and China, but elsewhere?
I had worked at KFC last summer. It's quite troublesome job, hard work and low wage. I don't know what the US government is going to do, but I hope that the problem can be solve by some better ways than Thailand. Remember the last minimum wage rising? It was a disaster.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have to ask Petch the same question as my initial comment on Wann's post: why should the government even be involved? Shouldn't employees and employers be free to make their own agreements on wages and other work conditions?
DeleteMore generally, why should politicians be deciding how much companies pay employees, or who they may even employee? For example, if a hospital wants to employee someone to do heart surgery, and that person is really good at replacing hearts, but doesn't have a medical degree from any approved university, why should the government stop the hospital employing that person who is perfectly capable? (My example is a bit unlikely, but I don't think that makes it a bad example to consider.)