The fast food employee strikes that began on the east cost have now spread to the Midwest, as McDonald’s workers have been holding one-day strikes throughout the Dayton area.
Many Wright State University students did not feel sympathetic towards these workers.
“I don’t think they should be paid $15 an hour,” Junior Leilani Gibbs said. “They should start at minimum wage and then work hard to earn raises.”
Sophomore Gretchen Coffman offered more sympathy. “Fast-food employees should make more, but not $15 an hour,” Coffman said. “The work can be hard and it’s very stressful. You can’t make a living off minimum wage, especially if you’re a college student.”
If the members of these strikes succeed and fast-food employees begin to get paid $15 an hour, would that change minimum wage?
“It might,” Coffman said. “People would begin arguing for higher pay because fast-food is seen as a lower-end job field.”
“Yes, it definitely would,” Gibbs agreed. “Other fast-food companies will have to compete with McDonald’s for employees.”
Would teenagers be less inclined to get a higher education? Coffman seems to think this is very likely.
“I know people that have dropped out of college,” Coffman said, “because they got a good paying job.”
Would McDonald’s be able to afford to pay their workers $15 an hour?
“They are filthy rich,” Gibbs said, “their food costs virtually nothing to produce. They make a profit on everything that they sell, even the dollar menu.”
Overall, it seems problematic in the business world to increase the pay for fast-food employees, but it would greatly benefit others who survive on those kinds of jobs.
