McDonalds workers due to strike for £10 an hour...

[Psycho Sonny]

My Mrs is a manger in Mcdonalds she only gets an extra 50p an hour, i pay most the bills as she can barley afford half our bills and just having a child, she has to deal with about 30 staff and stress of all the complaints and management roles that come with it, shes on her feet all day and its a lot of work, Its unfair in my eyes i earn more sitting at a desk.

don't worry in 10 years she can buy her own one. plenty of success stories been posted in this thread so far. in fact there was one where a guy had 2 mates who were mangers in mc donalds and are now CEO's earning about £350K a year.

 

[dowie]

I'm not sure and it would be easy to pick apart any list, but if the high turnover of staff at McD's is due to people getting fed up of the working conditions, then it doesn't seem the wage is high enough, for staff retention at least.

The thing is though, McDonald's has a bunch of franchise owners, if there was a significant benefit to be derived from reducing staff turnover by raising wages then these owners are free to try it as they can set pay independently. I'd suspect though that there isn't else it would likely have been tried, McDonald's likely has the data from their franchise owners already, they'd be very interested in any that perform significantly better than the rest.

I think high turnover is pretty common in fast food businesses in general.

 

[StriderX]

don't worry in 10 years she can buy her own one. plenty of success stories been posted in this thread so far. in fact there was one where a guy had 2 mates who were mangers in mc donalds and are now CEO's earning about £350K a year.

Ah lovely 2 out of ~60, that's cute, you see not everyone can be CEO's so telling people that if they put in hard graft at a ****** low level job, just means you're telling them mostly lies with a hint of minty fresh truth.

The job is only difficult because it should be done by a engineer and an intricate machine, not 15 people doing tiny little jobs here and there.

 

[dirtybeatfreak]

My Mrs is a manger in Mcdonalds she only gets an extra 50p an hour, i pay most the bills as she can barley afford half our bills and just having a child, she has to deal with about 30 staff and stress of all the complaints and management roles that come with it, shes on her feet all day and its a lot of work, Its unfair in my eyes i earn more sitting at a desk.

50p an hour extra? I take it you mean she is a Shift Manager??? Find that a little hard to believe, she would have gone through several pay rises since then and also been promoted through two extra ranks (training and floor manager). You also get a payrise for completing your stars and becoming a 'white badge'. If she went straight into management joining the company she would have started at the first lvl of which they class business management, which would have been as a 2nd assistant to the Store manager. They started on £24k back when I left in 2004, so it must be closer to 30k now. Either that or the structure has MAJORLY changed (which I guess is more than possible considering it were 13 years ago now lol)


One thing I will say about Mcdonalds is yes they do start on low low wages, but if you work hard and do well, they do reward you very well and you can build up your per hour easily by getting promoted or taking extra jobs (like for example the calibration of the equipment). There are no set amount of managers needed per store so if you are good enough you will get promoted and don't have to wait for a position to open (as you can move store if need be). Their management courses are excellent and they claim are recognized as a qualification (I have had this help me in a interview later on).This makes it a good ladder to climb and it's only 3 or 4 promotions and you can get on reasonable salary (25k+). It may start out as a no skills job but I would employ someone who has stuck that place out a few years more than I would someone who stacked shelfs or sat on a till, you know they are not afraid of some hard work

 

[Avenged7Fold]

minimum wage

But what do you think is a fair minimum wage?

As much as the market would allow, if they can't get employed then they'd have to raise it surely?

But nah let's just inflate everyone's prices instead, that's the solution... people still talking about human workhorses when it's quickly becoming irrelevant will be the despair of future policy.

But there will always be desperate people willing to work for far less than is fair and it costs to live. If you let the market decide, then you will eventually get an equilibrium but more often than not, it will be an amount that has people scraping or struggling to survive on the unskilled end of the scale. I feel that no one should be struggling in this country if they work full time.

I've stated in this thread that i would raise minimum wage not to target poverty but so companies can stop relying on government handouts to fill the gaps in employees meagre wages. Smaller private businesses that wont survive on the increase can seek subsidies to help pay wages to their employees. This is more about employers paying their way and creating an environment where people wont be encouraged to work less or risk handouts/credits.

If we were just talking about making sure employees were paid enough to live, i would be talking about targeting the cost of living rather than the amount they were getting paid.

 

[TheGentry]

I only know she gets paid £9 which i think for any mangerment role is not good

 

[dowie]

But what do you think is a fair minimum wage?

Depends - do you mean pick an arbitrary figure? In which case I can't do that as I'm not really in a position to have relevant data etc.. asses the impact on businesses etc..etc..

I do think that a fair minimum wage should ignore age though and could be set regionally with a higher rate in say London, lower rate in some northern areas perhaps. As people have mentioned it could be inflationary (though I don't believe any inflationary effects would completely wipe out the benefit to the recipients of a higher min wage).

The main point is though that these workers are asking to be paid significantly more than the minimum wage, given their job that seems rather unrealistic.

 

[darkgen]

I only know she gets paid £9 which i think for any mangerment role is not good

Doesn't 9 quid equate to 18 grand a year? Is that poor for this type of role/job?

 

[tom_e]

I only know she gets paid £9 which i think for any mangerment role is not good

High street retail "management" positions do not pay very well at all if you look at it from the view of more office based management roles.

Someone I know used to be the menswear manager in Topshop and IIRC she was only on around £18/19k

 

[CREATIVE!11]

don't worry in 10 years she can buy her own one. plenty of success stories been posted in this thread so far. in fact there was one where a guy had 2 mates who were mangers in mc donalds and are now CEO's earning about £350K a year.

Is this trolling? I sure hope it is.

According to this guy we'll all be CEO'ing 10k a day.

 

[tom_e]

Is this trolling? I sure hope it is.

According to this guy we'll all be CEO'ing 10k a day.

He's applying the same logic that led him to state you need a million quid in the bank for a McDs franchise.

 

[dowie]

I only know she gets paid £9 which i think for any mangerment role is not good

The other poster mentioned different types of 'manager' role, he assumed shift manager but then mentioned that she'd need to progress through 'floor manager' to get there - you've seemingly not given an actual job title but just stated that she is some kind of 'manager' which apparently could be a number of things.

He's applying the same logic that led him to state you need a million quid in the bank for a McDs franchise.

indeed, he's not making much sense here, first he puts forth an incorrect argument re: franchises and then next he seems to want to attack some exaggerated straw man argument that everyone can be a CEO or something

 

[Avenged7Fold]

The main point is though that these workers are asking to be paid significantly more than the minimum wage, given their job that seems rather unrealistic.

I understand your point and though i agree that it is a low end of the scale job, i cant help but feel that they don't get paid all that match if you had to live on the wage and that each employee probably earns McDonald's a fair bit with their contribution. That the pay they are asking for is little when compared to its takings at their branch during their shifts. Obviously i don't have hard numbers to back this up except for the difference in pay employees are asking, but i doubt Maccy Ds are struggling.

I just think too many businesses big big money, while paying employees so little. This ends up costing the government and ultimately us. The costs to the government should be going to subsidising small and developing businesses who cant afford to pay a fair living wage to their employees, instead of indirectly lining the pockets of these large companies.

 

[dowie]

I understand your point and though i agree that it is a low end of the scale job, i cant help but feel that they don't get paid all that match if you had to live on the wage and that each employee probably earns McDonald's a fair bit with their contribution. That the pay they ask for for a local busy branch is little when compared to its takings during their shifts.

I suspect it isn't, staff costs are a significant enough expense it seems and a double digit % rise in them could easily require some rise in food prices.

Sure some jobs aren't too practical to live on, especially at entry level (depending on your situation) that's just life. Min wage can be fine for a young person living at home or renting a room in a flat share, it can be fine for a student needing some part time work and it can be fine for one partner in a relationship where the other partner earns more. If you've got a family to support though or want to rent an entire flat to yourself rather than rent a room then you really ought to make an effort to do something a bit more useful/add more value in a job that pays more - I don't think the onus should be completely on the employer to artificially inflate wages for low value jobs to that extent.

 

[TheGentry]

Floor manger , shirft manger? how does that justify a £9 an hour a 50p increase in normal staff increase

Do you know the roles they do no, so your comment has no justification.

The other poster mentioned different types of 'manager' role, he assumed shift manager but then mentioned that she'd need to progress through 'floor manager' to get there - you've seemingly not given an actual job title but just stated that she is some kind of 'manager' which apparently could be a number of things.

 

[dirtybeatfreak]

It was me he quoted. I am talking from 9 years (of pain) experience as a Manager there. You stated that she is in charge of 30 people, which means she must be at least a Shift Manager. Shift managers are after Training Squad, Floor Manager (and sometimes Customer care manager) in terms of positions, not to mention that she would have had to achieve white badge before becoming Training staff when she passed all her stars which when I were there, also incurred a small payrise too.

Obviously I am 13 years out of it so it may have massively changed, but I just can't see how she only gained a 50pence increase over the starting wage having progressed that far.???

 

[StriderX]

Floor manger , shirft manger? how does that justify a £9 an hour a 50p increase in normal staff increase

Do you know the roles they do no, so your comment has no justification.

Well if they didn't believe it was enough, they wouldn't do it and just stay a burger flipper surely?

Why are people so god damn complacent, you have the power to stop an entire country if you cared enough, but you don't because apparently it's too much hassle.

 

[dowie]

Floor manger , shirft manger? how does that justify a £9 an hour a 50p increase in normal staff increase

Do you know the roles they do no, so your comment has no justification.

What do you mean my comment has no justification? You don't specify a role and then you ask how some wage is justified? If you could cite an actual named role then perhaps some people who've worked at McDonalds could comment. At the moment it seems that you just saying 'manager' could mean any number of roles - that's the point! If I'm mistaken then why don't you clarify and name the role?

 

[TheGentry]

What do you mean my comment has no justification? You don't specify a role and then you ask how some wage is justified? If you could cite an actual named role then perhaps some people who've worked at McDonalds could comment. At the moment it seems that you just saying 'manager' could mean any number of roles - that's the point! If I'm mistaken then why don't you clarify and name the role?

FLOOR MANAGER £9 still your point has no justification any manger role is the same and doesnt justify a 50p increase, do you know what they do? and does the person who quote saying he worked 13 years ago know? nope.

 

[TheGentry]

Well if they didn't believe it was enough, they wouldn't do it and just stay a burger flipper surely?

Why are people so god damn complacent, you have the power to stop an entire country if you cared enough, but you don't because apparently it's too much hassle.

Because people dont have the social skill to cause a mass uprising of mcdonalds staff, or some people NEED there job cos of finical responsibility so dont want to risk losing it.