Reading through the daily news, I ran across an article stating that "Organizers say thousands of fast-food workers are set to stage walkouts in dozens of cities around the country Thursday, part of a push to get chains such as McDonald's, Taco Bell and Wendy's to pay workers higher wages." (1) Not being completely unsympathetic to the needs of those in low income jobs, I continued to read. I was hoping that these folks weren't still demanding $15 an hour. I was wrong. As I continued reading, I became quite angry, as the story highlighted one person in particular.
She is Shaniqua Davis, and she lives in the Bronx with her unemployed boyfriend and her 1 year old daughter. Automatically, my heart goes out to the child. Then the questions in my mind start to form. Why doesn't her boyfriend have a job? Understand that the job market is scarce, but here in Alexandria, Va, there are help wanted signs in a lot of fast food places. Next question, is he receiving unemployment assistance? The article, though read on Yahoo, is an AP article and does not take the next step in answering that question (if they ever asked her in the first place). Is Ms. Davis taking night classes or anything of that sort to improve her situation? The article never says.
I continue reading and learn that Ms. Davis is paid 7.25 an hour working at a McDonalds a few blocks from her apartment and that she is never able to work a full 40 hour week (to which I would suggest finding another part time job). She pays her rent with help from public assistance and has a hard time paying for food and diapers for her daughter. The next part infuriates me. It states that she is having trouble paying cab fees, subway fees, cable TV and other bills. Excuse me? You work a couple of blocks from where you live. So cabs and subway fares aren't needed for transportation to work. Bills are more than likely mailed to you and you can mail the payment back. Cable TV? If you can't afford diapers, why are you shelling out loot for cable TV? Where are your priorities? Ms. Davis goes on to say that her daughter needs stuff and that she (Ms. Davis) needs stuff for her apartment. Your daughter needs food, diapers and clothes. What stuff do you "need" for your apartment?
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| Cable TV < Diapers |
I admit that I don't know Ms. Davis personally. I further acknowledge that the AP only reports what they want in order to further their own narrative. I am not trying to attack Ms. Davis personally by any means. I am only using her statements and the statements in the article to highlight the bigger problem in our great country. People would rather gripe about their situation than take the time and effort to make it better. And no, striking for $15 an hour to work fast food is not taking the time or effort. People in this situation should be picking themselves up by their bootstraps and making things better for themselves. It isn't easy. Not by any means- especially in today's economic climate. However, does who takes a minimum wage fast food job and looks at it as a long term career? Unless you plan to earn a degree while working their and pursue district managerial positions, this is no career. It is a job to help out temporarily while you pursue other endeavors such as training, education, or job hunting. I do think that it is time to review the minimum wage and consider an increase between $1.00-$2.00 an hour. Doubling it is absurd. Take for instance the case of Ms. Davis. If wages where increased to $15 an hour, that would be $31,000 a year (for a 40 hour work week which Ms. Davis says she can't get). The average salary for a police officer in the Bronx is $43,000 a year. (2) Just chew on that for a bit.
Leave me your comments and let me know what you think.
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