robert@fear.UUCP (Robert Plamondon) (07/24/85)
In article <1408@mnetor.UUCP>, sophie@mnetor.UUCP writes: > > Except that the garbagemen have a union, and > > hence get paid several times what the poor McDonalds' counter slaves get. > > Surely this is unjust. > > Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology > > Another reason why McDonald slaves get paid so little is that most of > them are too young to receive minimum wages (what an understatement! > McDoonad's fortune is based on the exploitation of child labor). One > would hope that EPFWEQ would contain provisions to end discrimination > based on age. McDonald and gang are certainly rich enough to be able > to pay decent wages or at least minimum wages. > -- > Sophie Quigley > {allegra|decvax|ihnp4|linus|watmath}!utzoo!mnetor!sophie I sincerely doubt that McDonalds exists solely because of *CANADA'S* minimum wage structure. In the U.S., the minimum wage covers everyone. In any event, claiming that part-time teenage workers are "wage slaves" is ludicrous, when most of them are being supported, at least in part, by their parents. Even Marxist terms have definitions, you know. A "wage slave" was someone with so few prospects, such limited mobility, and such curtailed liberty that he might as well be a slave (in spite of earning wages). This describes pre-revolutionary Russian factory workers fairly well, but falls short on today's high school students with part-time jobs. Nice use of buzzwords, though: "wage slave," "child labor," "exploitation," "decent wage," "rich enough to be able to.." :-) -- "Quid me anxius sum?" -- E. Alfredus Numanus Robert Plamondon {turtlevax, resonex, cae780}!weitek!robert
pauly@zaphod.UUCP (Paul Yeager) (08/01/85)
In article <230@fear.UUCP> robert@fear.UUCP (Robert Plamondon) writes: >> > Except that the garbagemen have a union, and >> > hence get paid several times what the poor McDonalds' counter slaves get. >> > Surely this is unjust. >> > Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology Yes, it's terribly unjust, the garbagemen are overpaid. This is a demonstration of the law of supply and demand. It's not a popular profession, but nontheless an essential one, hence the pay stays high so the streets don't fill with garbage. >> >> Another reason why McDonald slaves get paid so little is that most of >> them are too young to receive minimum wages (what an understatement! >> McDoonad's fortune is based on the exploitation of child labor). One >> would hope that EPFWEQ would contain provisions to end discrimination >> based on age. McDonald and gang are certainly rich enough to be able >> to pay decent wages or at least minimum wages. >> -- >> Sophie Quigley >> {allegra|decvax|ihnp4|linus|watmath}!utzoo!mnetor!sophie > >I sincerely doubt that McDonalds exists solely because of *CANADA'S* >minimum wage structure. In the U.S., the minimum wage covers >everyone. Almost everyone. There are exceptions for certain businesses, such as restaurants. Ms. Quigley seems to forget that there is no free lunch. The corner McD's exists because someone (or group of people) spent $50k - $100k of their hard earned money to buy a franchise. They didn't do this for fun, they did it to make a profit. (I realize some folks equate profit with sin, what can I say??) If you legislate higher wages for the employees, the franchisee will just raise his prices to maintain his return on investment. Then the public gets to subsidize those higher wages. Is that fair?? > >In any event, claiming that part-time teenage workers are "wage >slaves" is ludicrous, when most of them are being supported, at least >in part, by their parents. Even Marxist terms have definitions, you >know. A "wage slave" was someone with so few prospects, such limited >mobility, and such curtailed liberty that he might as well be a slave >(in spite of earning wages). This describes pre-revolutionary >Russian factory workers fairly well, but falls short on today's high >school students with part-time jobs. > >Nice use of buzzwords, though: "wage slave," "child labor," >"exploitation," "decent wage," "rich enough to be able to.." :-) > > Robert Plamondon > {turtlevax, resonex, cae780}!weitek!robert Well said, Mr. Plamondon! I wish we had as much 'this is how we can fix it' as we have 'this is what is wrong' in this group, and in the world for that matter. Paul Yeager {the universe}!ihnp4!alberta!sask!zaphod!pauly "There's no such thing as a free lunch"