Jatinder Sandhu - Democracy Now

Jatinder Sandhu

Soc 122

5-15-2014

Democracy Now

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/5/15/we_have_to_stop_this_inequality

May 15, 2014 marks the day thousands of people across over 150 cities went on strike today. They are arguing for a higher minimum wage. They want an increase from $7.25 to $15 an hour. Their demands simple, 15 dollar minimum wage and nationwide unionization of fast-food workers. Kendall Fells is the organizing director in NYC, she and about 600 people descended upon a McDonalds on Fifth Avenue. The tactics they used were pretty aggressive, they tried to charge inside, and they set up a sit in kind of situation to get their message out. The same story is being told around the United States today. Fast food workers on average only make between $10,000 and $18,000 a year. They argue that on that kind of salary it's impossible to live in large cities. I agree that living off 18,000 a year is not a livable wage, but the argument against doubling the wage is that working in fast-food does not warrant that wage. Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would also raise the cost of living equally. It's hard to say which side is right. As it stands now it is highly unlikely that this movement will be able to bully their way into a $15 minimum wage.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/5/15/fast_food_ceos_oppose_worker_raises

In the previous article we talked about fast food workers demanding a higher minimum wage. In this article we get to talk about the other side, the CEO's, who are against the minimum wage raises. On one hand workers are working 30 to 40 hours a week to bring home a $400 paycheck every two weeks while CEO's make $9600 an hour. The math is quite clear and that suggests that there is a large income disparity in the United States. The common worker barely making it by, and on the other side CEO's making an obscene amount of money. CEO'S make 1200 time more than the average fast food worker. Catherine Ruetshlin goes into detail of a study she is doing. She argues that Corporations like McDonalds, Burger King, and all these other fast-food companies can easily afford to raise the minimum wage of the common worker. It would be healthy for them to do so, because having a healthy happy worker fosters loyalty. CEO pay has grown by 470% since 2000, while on the other hand worker pay has only gone up 0.3%. It's hard to favor companies that can afford to pay that much for their CEOs but not their common workers.