See we told you.. Mcdonalds is ordering 7K touch screen to replace cashiers

[PixieStix]

I was watching some syfy awhile back. It was set in the future, where corporations were the government.

That is conservative utopia.

Progressive utopia, is a road paved to hell. Don't need a syfy movie to tell me this

 

[NYcarbineer]

you left out a very important qualifier there, NY, no surprise - an earned government check through employment.

Ah, so you acknowledge that the retired Detroit municipal workers EARNED their retirement checks.

Noone has ever denied they deserved retirement. It was the unions that made it easy for retirement after only 10-20 years of work, with benefits that could not be sustained as well as govt that agreed knowing damn well that one day it would catch up with them. But what they also knew was more than likely it wouldn't fall apart until they themselves were gone and therefore wouldn't have to deal with the mess they made.

You're changing your tune.

So you have magical powers to know the future of every American city?

Tell us then, when will San Francisco go bankrupt?

 

[depotoo]

Ironically, Macdonald's should welcome a minimum wage increase. Their size and dominance in the restaurant sector makes them better able to handle such a cost than their smaller, weaker competitors.

with a 6% profit margin before taxes?? Right.

 

[rightwinger]

FWIW--

No one forces McDonalds to offer whatever benefits they do offer or Wal Mart or Target, or Dicks or Carl's Jr. I used McDonalds corporate information since they are a publicly traded company....

Their dividend--what they pay you for owning their stock--rose from about 22 cents a quarter 10 years ago to over 80 cents a quarter today. With about a billion shares outstanding, they pay out $3B to people who have done nothing other than own their stock. In that same 10 years, those of us who consume McDonalds food would argue the food has gotten worse if anything.

I would argue that if they cut that dividend by something like 25, that would save $1B or so (one dollar less) and found a way to raise wages, they'd have a better restaurant serving better products.

But again, nobody forces them to offer what they do offer. It could be much worse.

Good gawd, this just gets worse, and more troubling.

The purpose of a corporation is to maximize shareholder value. THAT'S IT. Shareholders including young families planning for the future and seniors depending on dividend income for their needs. Any corporation is going to do what it thinks is best to accomplish that goal. Some do it better than....

Oh, fuck it.

I'm not going to explain the most fundamental business economics to American adults who simply don't understand.

I can't believe we have people graduating from high school without this most basic knowledge.

Never mind.

.

And that's the issue in a nutshell

Corporations have an incentive to pay their employees poorly. As long as nobody breaks rank, everyone profits. As long as there are Republicans fighting off labor laws, stockholders profit. Stockholders doubled their money in less than five years....employees saw none of that

Unless government steps in and levels the playing field, the taxpayer will continue to make up the difference

 

[NYcarbineer]

I was watching some syfy awhile back. It was set in the future, where corporations were the government.

That is conservative utopia.

Progressive utopia, is a road paved to hell. Don't need a syfy movie to tell me this

Don't worry, there are no conservatives in progressive utopia. That's why we call it utopia.

 

[Mac1958]

.

And the poor employees are forced to work there.

And the poor employees are too pathetic to improve their own lives.

Why not, I can do this too.

.

 

[candycorn]

FWIW--

No one forces McDonalds to offer whatever benefits they do offer or Wal Mart or Target, or Dicks or Carl's Jr. I used McDonalds corporate information since they are a publicly traded company....

Their dividend--what they pay you for owning their stock--rose from about 22 cents a quarter 10 years ago to over 80 cents a quarter today. With about a billion shares outstanding, they pay out $3B to people who have done nothing other than own their stock. In that same 10 years, those of us who consume McDonalds food would argue the food has gotten worse if anything.

I would argue that if they cut that dividend by something like 25, that would save $1B or so (one dollar less) and found a way to raise wages, they'd have a better restaurant serving better products.

But again, nobody forces them to offer what they do offer. It could be much worse.

Good gawd, this just gets worse, and more troubling.

The purpose of a corporation is to maximize shareholder value. THAT'S IT. Shareholders including young families planning for the future and seniors depending on dividend income for their needs. Any corporation is going to do what it thinks is best to accomplish that goal. Some do it better than....

Oh, fuck it.

I'm not going to explain the most fundamental business economics to American adults who simply don't understand.

I can't believe we have people graduating from high school without this most basic knowledge.

Never mind.

.

And as I stated earlier, as a consumer of their product, I remember them being much better than they are now; and when I leave here in a few minutes to go get some lunch, I'm likely to go to Carl's Jr or Subway since they have better food and choices. Is that a factor of changing tastes, better employees, or my personal moods? Probably a combination of the three. I do know that I usually don't leave the office during lunch. I often get whatever my assistant is getting. My choices have NEVER been McDonalds since she doesn't like it. Again, if they were paying their employees more, perhaps they would have additional customers, more business, and increase shareholder return....maybe.

 

[depotoo]

Ah, so you acknowledge that the retired Detroit municipal workers EARNED their retirement checks.

Noone has ever denied they deserved retirement. It was the unions that made it easy for retirement after only 10-20 years of work, with benefits that could not be sustained as well as govt that agreed knowing damn well that one day it would catch up with them. But what they also knew was more than likely it wouldn't fall apart until they themselves were gone and therefore wouldn't have to deal with the mess they made.

You're changing your tune.

So you have magical powers to know the future of every American city?

Tell us then, when will San Francisco go bankrupt?

No, that is your perception. And San Fran? You tell me from 2011 -

According to recent estimates from the city controller, San Francisco will need $375 million for retiree pay this fiscal year — $20 million more than expected and $100 million more than last year. Next year, The City will need $439 million. By 2014, it will be paying $532 million to fund the pensions of its employees.

The crisis is even worse when it comes to San Francisco’s health care obligations. The controller estimates The City’s unfunded liability at $4.4 billion for retiree health benefits. And unlike the pension system, health care costs are funded almost entirely from annual revenue, on a pay-as-you-go basis.

If we do not make needed reforms soon, these enormous financial liabilities will impact everyone. With more money going to pensions and health benefits every year, San Francisco will have less to spend on public health, public safety, economic development and other services important to businesses and residents.

Difficult decisions must be made quickly or San Francisco is destined to follow the path of states and
municipalities nationwide that are cutting vital services because of the exploding costs of underfunded
benefits.

Pension reform must be taken seriously by city | Guest Columns | San Francisco | San Francisco Examiner

 

[alan1]

I was watching some syfy awhile back. It was set in the future, where corporations were the government.

That is conservative utopia.

More likely, your false impression of conservatives.
I'm all for being simple, but please don't take it to an extreme.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqp1U6RoQaw]Lynyrd Skynyrd - Simple Man (with lyrics) - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Foxfyre]

What is prefrable? A low paying job that allows a person to learn a work ethic, experience, references, and a skill set that allows him to qualify for better jobs?

Or chronic unemployment?

Or government controls that assign a job of a particular status and class to people that ensures they won't starve, but they can never hope for much of anything better?

Ya'll pick.

 

[candycorn]

FWIW--

No one forces McDonalds to offer whatever benefits they do offer or Wal Mart or Target, or Dicks or Carl's Jr. I used McDonalds corporate information since they are a publicly traded company....

Their dividend--what they pay you for owning their stock--rose from about 22 cents a quarter 10 years ago to over 80 cents a quarter today. With about a billion shares outstanding, they pay out $3B to people who have done nothing other than own their stock. In that same 10 years, those of us who consume McDonalds food would argue the food has gotten worse if anything.

I would argue that if they cut that dividend by something like 25, that would save $1B or so (one dollar less) and found a way to raise wages, they'd have a better restaurant serving better products.

But again, nobody forces them to offer what they do offer. It could be much worse.

I already posted this once before, but I'll post it again for your benefit.
McDonalds corporation only owns 15% of the restaurants, the remaining 85% are owned through a franchise agreement.
Your argument for reducing the dividend is derived from ignorance.

Which is why I put the "found a way" in there instead of "gave their employees".

 

[NYcarbineer]

Ironically, Macdonald's should welcome a minimum wage increase. Their size and dominance in the restaurant sector makes them better able to handle such a cost than their smaller, weaker competitors.

with a 6% profit margin before taxes?? Right.

Would you like to guess how many minimum wage increases there have been since MacDonald's began?

Go ahead, take a guess without googling. Use the 1955 date of the first franchise.

 

[thereisnospoon]

McDonald's orders 7,000 touchscreen kiosks to replace cashiers - Neowin


YOu wanna walk out on your job for more money. Guess what you now might lose your jobs all because of UNIONS who are greedy..

And what do you suppose might be the outcome of such robotization?

Jobs will be lost.

Corporate profit will rise.

Government will increase benefits to the unemployed.

Corporate taxes must be increased to compensate.

Do you know of a likely alternative?

Here's the difference between producers and non-producers, conservatives vs liberals.
Liberals believe employment should be an entitlement. That the loss of entry level jobs is a disaster.
We believe in opportunity. Losing one's fast food job to automation is not the end of the world. In fact any worker could use their minds to make the best of the situation. That would be perhaps to go to school and train for positions that will permit them to acquire the skills to maintain and repair the machines that took their low pay low skill job.
This is simple stuff.

 

[alan1]

FWIW--

No one forces McDonalds to offer whatever benefits they do offer or Wal Mart or Target, or Dicks or Carl's Jr. I used McDonalds corporate information since they are a publicly traded company....

Their dividend--what they pay you for owning their stock--rose from about 22 cents a quarter 10 years ago to over 80 cents a quarter today. With about a billion shares outstanding, they pay out $3B to people who have done nothing other than own their stock. In that same 10 years, those of us who consume McDonalds food would argue the food has gotten worse if anything.

I would argue that if they cut that dividend by something like 25, that would save $1B or so (one dollar less) and found a way to raise wages, they'd have a better restaurant serving better products.

But again, nobody forces them to offer what they do offer. It could be much worse.

I already posted this once before, but I'll post it again for your benefit.
McDonalds corporation only owns 15% of the restaurants, the remaining 85% are owned through a franchise agreement.
Your argument for reducing the dividend is derived from ignorance.

Which is why I put the "found a way" in there instead of "gave their employees".

Find a way for the other 85% since yer such a genius.

 

[NYcarbineer]

What is prefrable? A low paying job that allows a person to learn a work ethic, experience, references, and a skill set that allows him to qualify for better jobs?

Or chronic unemployment?

Or government controls that assign a job of a particular status and class to people that ensures they won't starve, but they can never hope for much of anything better?

Ya'll pick.

The minimum wage has been FALLING for 45 years. This is what conservatives have wanted.

Now what have Americans gotten, as a consequence, that is so much better?

 

[depotoo]

Ironically, Macdonald's should welcome a minimum wage increase. Their size and dominance in the restaurant sector makes them better able to handle such a cost than their smaller, weaker competitors.

with a 6% profit margin before taxes?? Right.

Would you like to guess how many minimum wage increases there have been since MacDonald's began?

Go ahead, take a guess without googling. Use the 1955 date of the first franchise.

I have no need to. I figured this all before, when the subject came up. Bet you haven't checked to see how their prices have coincided with it have you? See, you choose to only look at one half of the equation. Go google that. Prices have risen less than wages have.
Tell me also how much harder has that job gotten? Less, I bet, due to automation.

 

[thereisnospoon]

And the government doesn't require that all touchscreens join Obamacare.

Good luck unionizing the touch screens

Some 90% of fast food stores are individually owned. With that fact in mind, unionizing workers would be impossible. Especially in light of the 26 states that are right to work.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Detroit Police officers start out at $14 per hour. McDonalds employees should make more?

Detriot is different from say new york city.
Detriot you can buy a home for 500 bucks..new york 500 bucks might get you a fancy cardboard box to sleep in.

Context matters.

Right. I can say with a high degree of certainty that most employees of Detroit do not live in Detroit. That's because they can afford it. The schools are disaster, the taxes are ridiculous and the city is not even close to being a safe place to live.
BTW, you get what you pay for. There are homes in Detroit that require just $1 for purchase. Chances are the house is located in a war zone.
Who the hell would compare Detroit to NYC anyway?

 

[thereisnospoon]

Detriot is different from say new york city.
Detriot you can buy a home for 500 bucks..new york 500 bucks might get you a fancy cardboard box to sleep in.

Context matters.

I didn't know the $15 dollar hour was restricted to certain areas, especially since they walked out in Detroit too and you cant buy a livable home for $500 genus only a shell

Um....minimum wages are different state to state..guess why?

Save for the extremes seen in California, variations from state to state are minimal.
BTW, the min wage in SFO is set to increase to $10.74 per hour on 1/1/2014.
So what. As a result everything purchased from a service based business is priced accordingly. Business will simply pass the additional cost along to the consumer. Where that is not possible, businesses will look to reduce labor costs by laying off workers, or reducing the number of full time workers. Either way businesses will find a way to maintain their bottom line. If they cannot, they go out of business or relocate to a more business friendly environment.

 

[Synthaholic]

with a 6% profit margin before taxes?? Right.

Would you like to guess how many minimum wage increases there have been since MacDonald's began?

Go ahead, take a guess without googling. Use the 1955 date of the first franchise.

I have no need to. I figured this all before, when the subject came up. Bet you haven't checked to see how their prices have coincided with it have you? See, you choose to only look at one half of the equation. Go google that. Prices have risen less than wages have.
Tell me also how much harder has that job gotten? Less, I bet, due to automation.

You didn't answer the question.