Strike for $15.00 an hour, Sub shop fires everybody

[Gadawg73]

Preston added that fired staff will be allowed to reapply for their jobs when the restaurant reopens in the new year.

I think this has less to do about the ineffective strike, but more about the heartless way a corporation let go it minimum wage employees.

I know many of you have little sympathy for minimum wage employees, but they do have a hard life. Does that mean they deserve a government raise? NO, but you must recognize they have a hard life.

I think the OP sensationalized the strike as the cause of the mass firing and the liberal media helped that theory along. However, after reading the ENTIRE article, the restaurant employees went on strike during a bad time and then shortly after that the company decided to rebrand and give the location a make over. The employees would have been out of work for at least a month. Not something they could do.

You might say poor timing right at Christmas, but in reality, there are many many retailers and other like companies hiring low wage workers at this time, so maybe the timing wasn't to bad.

If someone is making the minimum wage it is because:
They have little to no skills
They are uneducated
They are young and just entering the workplace
They have made so many recent bad choices no employer will hire them
They have a bad attitude
That have a bad work history
They have tattoos all over the body, long hair, beard and a bone through their nose
They have no ambition
Their work schedule is inflexible
They have health problems from being obese, smoking, drug and alcohol use
And a dozen other reasons they are stuck on the bottom
Not my problem Their problem and they AND ONLY THEY can lift themselves out of a dead end job.
Many people making the minimum wage are not worth that.

 

[Gadawg73]

So obviously you didn't read the article...or choose to ignore what the employees did to him.
They all walked out and held nasty signs for FOUR DAYS - so THEY closed his shop for four days completely disregarding the fact that he was already in financial trouble. The owner said they were aware of LOSSES he was sustaining before they went on strike. Which was stupid and showinh complete lack of concern about the place they were working.
If you were the owner, and were closing the business to re-concept - WOULD YOU HIRE THESE PEOPLE BACK??
Of course you wouldn't. They are all jerks for walking out on an owner that was struggling.

He paid low wages and his business was failing. Was he going to pay his workers while he changed from a sub shop to a burger joint? Workers were leaving anyway

His business was failing because it no longer served a changing demographic.
This is very, very, very common in the restaurant business. Neighborhoods change.
Pay his workers while he was closed for a month?? What the...what part of he was struggling and losing money do you not understand?
So you are one of those people who think that business owners have an infinite supply of money sitting around and are just greedy?? I would think you are smarter than that.
When a business loses money it is quite common for the owner to NOT PAY HIMSELF to meet payroll. I do not know if this guy was doing this, but it is possible. What is not possible was for him to pay his employees a ridiculous $15 per hour...and even more unrealistic to expect him to continue paying his employees for a whole month to do nothing. I suppose you think he should have taken out a 2nd mortgage on his house to do this.
Geez.

Give them a break, they believe all business owners have truckloads of cash.
It IS NOT MY RESPONSIBILITY to hire anyone when MY business makes money.
It is the RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WORKERS to educate and train themselves in a skill that they can make a decent wage in.

 

[Camp]

The "person in charge"? that you keep referring to. Who the hell is that?
The owner has to make A PROFIT because if he does not make A PROFIT then "the person in charge" and everyone else has NO job to protest about.

If he can't pay his workers a decent wage AND make a profit, then he's a shitty business owner.

If an employee does not like their wage then they can leave.

But in the real world workers know that if they quit or get terminated for just cause they can not collect unemployment. So they will do minimum work for the minimum pay. The employer ends up with substandard workers doing substandard work. Poorly motivated workers with chips on their shoulders end up costing the company far more than what paying a little more would cost.

 

[BillyZane]

He paid low wages and his business was failing. Was he going to pay his workers while he changed from a sub shop to a burger joint? Workers were leaving anyway

His business was failing because it no longer served a changing demographic.
This is very, very, very common in the restaurant business. Neighborhoods change.
Pay his workers while he was closed for a month?? What the...what part of he was struggling and losing money do you not understand?
So you are one of those people who think that business owners have an infinite supply of money sitting around and are just greedy?? I would think you are smarter than that.
When a business loses money it is quite common for the owner to NOT PAY HIMSELF to meet payroll. I do not know if this guy was doing this, but it is possible. What is not possible was for him to pay his employees a ridiculous $15 per hour...and even more unrealistic to expect him to continue paying his employees for a whole month to do nothing. I suppose you think he should have taken out a 2nd mortgage on his house to do this.
Geez.

Give them a break, they believe all business owners have truckloads of cash.
It IS NOT MY RESPONSIBILITY to hire anyone when MY business makes money.
It is the RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WORKERS to educate and train themselves in a skill that they can make a decent wage in.

Actually, it IS your responsibility to follow all laws. Doesn't matter how shitty minimum wage employees are, and they ARE shitty. That's why I own two businesses and neither of them employee minimum wage employees.

What many fail to realize is that a minimum wage earner is , unless truly stupid, earning far more than minimum wage. The thing is though, that the government is picking up the difference, not the employer.

Figure a single mom with one child is earning $15K a year at her job
then add in what $200 in food stamps? For $2400
Then a $3000 so called earn income credit and suddenly you're looking at someone making $20,400 a year. Now take that figure of $5400 a year and divide it by 2080 hours and you come up with $2.60 an hour so add that to $7.25 an hour and you get what the in wage should be. $9.85 an hour.

The employee is "earning" exactly what they are now, the only difference is the employer is paying it, not us the tax payer.

Too bad for those employers who don't like it. I'm sick of the taxpayer getting stuck with EVERYTHING.

 

[Katzndogz]

Firing the lot and hiring someone who wants to work is the best solution.

 

[BillyZane]

If he can't pay his workers a decent wage AND make a profit, then he's a shitty business owner.

If an employee does not like their wage then they can leave.

But in the real world workers know that if they quit or get terminated for just cause they can not collect unemployment. So they will do minimum work for the minimum pay. The employer ends up with substandard workers doing substandard work. Poorly motivated workers with chips on their shoulders end up costing the company far more than what paying a little more would cost.

These lower end companies are just fine with lower end help at lower end wages, and they hire employees who are just fine with doing as little as possible.

Unfortunately, we the tax payer get shafted.

Again

 

[BillyZane]

Firing the lot and hiring someone who wants to work is the best solution.

For the most par nobody who is earning minimum wage wants to work, if they did, they wouldn't be earning minimum wage. That's just a fact.

I'd like to see the government actually push the envelope a little and MAKE people work whether they want to or not.

How do you do that? Simple.

Set a reasonable minimum wage (somewhere between $9-10) and then end welfare for any able bodied persons who won't work.

 

[Gadawg73]

His business was failing because it no longer served a changing demographic.
This is very, very, very common in the restaurant business. Neighborhoods change.
Pay his workers while he was closed for a month?? What the...what part of he was struggling and losing money do you not understand?
So you are one of those people who think that business owners have an infinite supply of money sitting around and are just greedy?? I would think you are smarter than that.
When a business loses money it is quite common for the owner to NOT PAY HIMSELF to meet payroll. I do not know if this guy was doing this, but it is possible. What is not possible was for him to pay his employees a ridiculous $15 per hour...and even more unrealistic to expect him to continue paying his employees for a whole month to do nothing. I suppose you think he should have taken out a 2nd mortgage on his house to do this.
Geez.

Give them a break, they believe all business owners have truckloads of cash.
It IS NOT MY RESPONSIBILITY to hire anyone when MY business makes money.
It is the RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WORKERS to educate and train themselves in a skill that they can make a decent wage in.

Actually, it IS your responsibility to follow all laws. Doesn't matter how shitty minimum wage employees are, and they ARE shitty. That's why I own two businesses and neither of them employee minimum wage employees.

What many fail to realize is that a minimum wage earner is , unless truly stupid, earning far more than minimum wage. The thing is though, that the government is picking up the difference, not the employer.

Figure a single mom with one child is earning $15K a year at her job
then add in what $200 in food stamps? For $2400
Then a $3000 so called earn income credit and suddenly you're looking at someone making $20,400 a year. Now take that figure of $5400 a year and divide it by 2080 hours and you come up with $2.60 an hour so add that to $7.25 an hour and you get what the in wage should be. $9.85 an hour.

The employee is "earning" exactly what they are now, the only difference is the employer is paying it, not us the tax payer.

Too bad for those employers who don't like it. I'm sick of the taxpayer getting stuck with EVERYTHING.

Where did I state I don't follow laws?
I own businesses also but only 1 of 3 employs people.
Pays $20 a hour plus expenses.
Can not find people to work.
Why? Unwilling to work nights and weekends and more interested in what I can do for them instead of how they can help me so
**** THEM
NO more employees starting tomorrow.
Fired them all.

 

[BillyZane]

Give them a break, they believe all business owners have truckloads of cash.
It IS NOT MY RESPONSIBILITY to hire anyone when MY business makes money.
It is the RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WORKERS to educate and train themselves in a skill that they can make a decent wage in.

Actually, it IS your responsibility to follow all laws. Doesn't matter how shitty minimum wage employees are, and they ARE shitty. That's why I own two businesses and neither of them employee minimum wage employees.

What many fail to realize is that a minimum wage earner is , unless truly stupid, earning far more than minimum wage. The thing is though, that the government is picking up the difference, not the employer.

Figure a single mom with one child is earning $15K a year at her job
then add in what $200 in food stamps? For $2400
Then a $3000 so called earn income credit and suddenly you're looking at someone making $20,400 a year. Now take that figure of $5400 a year and divide it by 2080 hours and you come up with $2.60 an hour so add that to $7.25 an hour and you get what the in wage should be. $9.85 an hour.

The employee is "earning" exactly what they are now, the only difference is the employer is paying it, not us the tax payer.

Too bad for those employers who don't like it. I'm sick of the taxpayer getting stuck with EVERYTHING.

Where did I state I don't follow laws?
I own businesses also but only 1 of 3 employs people.
Pays $20 a hour plus expenses.
Can not find people to work.
Why? Unwilling to work nights and weekends and more interested in what I can do for them instead of how they can help me so
**** THEM
NO more employees starting tomorrow.
Fired them all.

I of course did not say that you didn't follow the law. Sorry if you misinterpreted. I was merely commenting that a business owner DOES have other people to answer to when determining wages

 

[Gadawg73]

Firing the lot and hiring someone who wants to work is the best solution.

For the most par nobody who is earning minimum wage wants to work, if they did, they wouldn't be earning minimum wage. That's just a fact.

I'd like to see the government actually push the envelope a little and MAKE people work whether they want to or not.

How do you do that? Simple.

Set a reasonable minimum wage (somewhere between $9-10) and then end welfare for any able bodied persons who won't work.

LOL, you believe raising the minimum wage will make people "want to work"?
Every business has to raise their prices when their employee FIXED COSTS go up.
So reality when you raise the minimum wage prices go up as well, the COST OF LIVING goes up across the board.
And they are still at the bottom.
NO LAW or rise in the minimum wage makes people "want to work".
Come on man, you claim you own businesses?

 

[Jughead]

Strike for $15.00 an hour, Sub shop fires everybody

As much as I would hate to fire everyone just before Christmas, the bottom line is business. In order to accommodate $15/hour, the sub shop would have to raise it's prices to the point where no one would eat there. It would be forced to shut down.

 

[Meathead]

If he can't pay his workers a decent wage AND make a profit, then he's a shitty business owner.

If an employee does not like their wage then they can leave.

But in the real world workers know that if they quit or get terminated for just cause they can not collect unemployment. So they will do minimum work for the minimum pay. The employer ends up with substandard workers doing substandard work. Poorly motivated workers with chips on their shoulders end up costing the company far more than what paying a little more would cost.

There will always be a minimum wage whether legislated or not and your argument likewise will always be invalid. Life's a ***** and will always be that way.

 

[BillyZane]

Firing the lot and hiring someone who wants to work is the best solution.

For the most par nobody who is earning minimum wage wants to work, if they did, they wouldn't be earning minimum wage. That's just a fact.

I'd like to see the government actually push the envelope a little and MAKE people work whether they want to or not.

How do you do that? Simple.

Set a reasonable minimum wage (somewhere between $9-10) and then end welfare for any able bodied persons who won't work.

LOL, you believe raising the minimum wage will make people "want to work"?
Every business has to raise their prices when their employee FIXED COSTS go up.
So reality when you raise the minimum wage prices go up as well, the COST OF LIVING goes up across the board.
And they are still at the bottom.
NO LAW or rise in the minimum wage makes people "want to work".
Come on man, you claim you own businesses?

Oh no, you misread.

I don't believe the carrot of $9-10 an hour would make lazy people want to work
I believe the stick of no welfare for those who WON'T work would make them want to work.

Right now, if you don't want to work, it'e easy not to. You go sign up for welfare and go home and play Ninentdo.

I would end that with a quickness.

I just dont believe we CAN do it, until we have a few things fixed first, chief among them the min wage.

I'm sorry but there is something fundamentally wrong when a company making $16B a year in net profits is encouraging their employees to go on welfare.

I'm not one for a socialist economy or anything like that, but I do believe in a government that enforces responsible business ethics.

There is nothing responsible about pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars while your employees collect welfare.

Really, I don't even see how anyone could argue against yearly adjustements in the min wage law anyway. It seems to me that there should only be two arguments here

1. Arguing for a min wage law that actually reflects for the changes in the cost of living

or

2. Arguing that the min wage law shouldn't even exist.

I mean arguing just to leave it where it is , is well stupid because CLEARLY at $7.25 an hour it isn't doing what it was originally designed to do, and a person should either want it doing what it was designed to do, or not want it at all.

 

[Camp]

Firing the lot and hiring someone who wants to work is the best solution.

Telling all your customers and potential future customers that the food product you are selling is processed, maintained and made by minimum wage workers with no hope of advancement is not good PR. Check out the reviews this place has been getting for over a year. Not good. Plenty of complaints about food quality. That is what happens when you fill your restaurant with minimum wage employee's. All the other Snarfs may be effected by this negative publicity. The employee's that got dumped will find better jobs. Decent employers will take advantage of employee's that will appreciate better working conditions than what was offered at Snarfs.

 

[BillyZane]

Strike for $15.00 an hour, Sub shop fires everybody

As much as I would hate to fire everyone just before Christmas, the bottom line is business. In order to accommodate $15/hour, the sub shop would have to raise it's prices to the point where no one would eat there. It would be forced to shut down.

First, this business didn't shut down permanently.

Second, why do people think min wage employees don't have a right to negotiate? I hire employees and when I do , I pay more than minimum wage but I've never had one just accept my first offer, and certainly I've never met someone's first offer. We've negotiated to a wage that's fair for both.

I've never heard of say a McDonald's employee negotiating his wage. Have you?

These folks started out at $15 but how many would have settled for $9? Quite a few I'd say, that's an extra $80 a week if you're full time.

 

[Camp]

If an employee does not like their wage then they can leave.

But in the real world workers know that if they quit or get terminated for just cause they can not collect unemployment. So they will do minimum work for the minimum pay. The employer ends up with substandard workers doing substandard work. Poorly motivated workers with chips on their shoulders end up costing the company far more than what paying a little more would cost.

There will always be a minimum wage whether legislated or not and your argument likewise will always be invalid. Life's a ***** and will always be that way.

Minimum wage is only suitable for unskilled labor that requires an absolute minimum amount of responsibility.

 

[Pop23]

Not sure what all the fuss is about, in a few days these workers get subsidized health insurance. That's like a $2 to $3 an hour raise

Glad this problems solved!

Right?

 

[JoeB131]

The sheep who listened to the union unicorn piss purveyors lost, the purveyors will move on and pretend they zip to do with this and the owner will hire new folks, being a bus. person I am sure he understood his lost days without help are a necessary cost.....next time the AstroTurf unicorns show up I bet the employees then tell them no thx I want to keep the job.

Yup, you got to keep them wage slaves in their place. How DARE they demand decent pay.

Oh, by the way, this restruant was in downtown Chicago, and what they were paying in rent or taxes for that tony downtown address was probably no doubt a lot more than they were paying the wage slaves...

Slave wages I worked for those slave wages

And your ignorance is aptly demonstrated in your own post, yes their other expenses may indeed be higher than if they were in a suburban strip mall, so what's your point ? Right, make one up......

How long ago since you've had to work for Min Wage? Last time I did was 1985, and that was when the Min Wage was actually worth something.

Point is, if you can afford the high rent, you should be able to afford paying the prevailing wage.

They really need to make an example out of this guy. Make sure during the time he's "remodelling", the building inspector makes frequent stops....

Then if he opens and hasn't rehired the same employees, have the health inspector stop by frequently. Heh, heh, heh...

Damn. It's a ***** when government works for the people, isn't it?

 

[Gadawg73]

Yup, you got to keep them wage slaves in their place. How DARE they demand decent pay.

Oh, by the way, this restruant was in downtown Chicago, and what they were paying in rent or taxes for that tony downtown address was probably no doubt a lot more than they were paying the wage slaves...

Slave wages I worked for those slave wages

And your ignorance is aptly demonstrated in your own post, yes their other expenses may indeed be higher than if they were in a suburban strip mall, so what's your point ? Right, make one up......

How long ago since you've had to work for Min Wage? Last time I did was 1985, and that was when the Min Wage was actually worth something.

Point is, if you can afford the high rent, you should be able to afford paying the prevailing wage.

They really need to make an example out of this guy. Make sure during the time he's "remodelling", the building inspector makes frequent stops....

Then if he opens and hasn't rehired the same employees, have the health inspector stop by frequently. Heh, heh, heh...

Damn. It's a ***** when government works for the people, isn't it?

I Was in the 10th grade age 16 the first and last time I earned the minimum wage. It was $1.60 a hour. Richway store, which is now Target all over the country, had an auto center. I pumped gas, wiped windshields, checked that oil and windshield washing fluid. Plus tips. Department store at a mall. Many people would leave their lights on when they came at night and I had a shopping cart with a battery charger in it that I would go and charge their batteries for free. Tips were not solicited but got a lot.
At age 13 I worked summers in Sewanee TN at the University of the South where all summer they used the dorms to house visiting seminary and seminars the university put on. We were bell boys sort of hauling the suitcases to their rooms. Minimum wage plus tips came to over $3 a hour.
During high school in the summer the farmers would come over to where we were training at the high school and hire us to bale their hay, haul it in trucks to other locals that had horses and cows. $3 a hour when the minimum wage was $1.60.
So in reality a high school kid with ambition I pay $15 a hour NOW to work in my yard.

1973 graduated high school and the summer before I was off to college I worked for a survey team cutting line and pulling chain. Before the distance meters and prizms you see today. Made $3 a hour doing that.
Point is those that make the minimum wage have BELOW the minimum smarts level on average. We know kids now that sell shoes at the mall and get commission averaging around $12 a hour.

 

[Spiderman]

Who won?

Sub shop loses business while they scramble for new employees, employees go get another low paying job

They won't be "scrambling".

There are plenty of people who are willing to work.

The entitled assholes who think they should get paid more than the job is worth are the ones in for a rude awakening.

Completely off topic, but please define what jobs are worth.

I could list a hundred different industries in a hundred different locations which all pay roughly the same , are you seriously suggesting that those jobs are just coincidentally worth the same amount?

A job is worth what the market will bear.

Different industries can have similar financial situations so of course there will be jobs in each of those industries that will pay roughly the same

And I don't see how it's off topic unless the post I responded to was off topic.