I can have an intelligent discussion about the fast food workers and their demands for a $15 per hour wage because, to me, the problems with the idea do not revolve around the possibility that a Big Mac may wind up costing 75 cents more. To me, what is going on here is a perfect display of delusional people creating problems that will eventually cost low-income workers their jobs.

Before I get into my discussion, let me offer this word of warning to anyone who works fast food. I worked fast food for years; I know what the job entails. But I am telling you that if you take part in these little demonstrations and “strikes” that are planned, then you are only going to hasten the elimination of your job.

From my time as a minimum wage worker, I remember that nearly everyone who worked a fast food job desperately needed that job. The actions being taken by these organizers are going to drastically change the fast food industry and not in the workers’ favor. Be smart and stay out of the demonstrations. That way, when the hammer starts falling, you might be able to keep your job.

There are plenty of college graduates making minimum wage and there are plenty of people who do not have any kind of college education making minimum wage. The notion that someone “deserves” to make minimum wage is taking the focus off of the real issue. The real issue here is that fast food workers are causing a technical revolution in their industry that will eliminate their jobs in five years or less. Whether you “deserve” to make minimum wage working at a fast food place or not, that option will be gone very soon.

The organizers of these demonstrations have a website and I read a little of it. Let’s put some things in perspective here that the organizers seem to have distorted horribly:

• The fast food industry is not the only industry making significant profits and not passing those profits proportionally onto the workers. As an example, the medical service industry and hospitality industry do the same thing. This is not some kind of isolated fight that only fast food workers are engaged in.
• I am sorry to say that no one is going to care if you get arrested because you believe that you should be making $15 per hour at a fast food place.
• The only people who feel that fast food workers should make $15 per hour are fast food workers. I can create a very long list of workers who deserve $15 per hour long before fast food people get that kind of a raise.

In order to get your way in a situation like this, your cause has to resonate with the people. You need to get the court of public opinion on your side and then fight your battles with the blessing of the people. I am sorry fast food workers, but you do not have the blessing of the people.

If you asked 10 people who do not work in fast food or are not related to someone who works in fast food if fast food workers should make $15 per hour, my guess is that more than half would say no. An emphatic, no.

Why should the fast food businesses pay you more money anyways? I go to fast food places on occasion and some of these places succeed despite the efforts of their employees. A fast food restaurant is the only place I have ever gone where the counter workers yell conversations back and forth, as if the customer is not even there. There are some excellent fast food workers out there. I have seen some fast food workers who deserve $20 per hour. But they are few and far between.

If you want to double your pay, then act like you deserve it. You should care when an order is screwed up and not make the customer feel like they did something wrong. You should address customers in a professional manner and not talk to customers like you are talking to your friend from across the street. Is it that hard to remember to not put onions on my burger? Is paying you almost double what you make now really going to make those onions disappear?

Here is reality for all fast food workers, and it is a stark reality. A significant portion of the fast food working population is overpaid at minimum wage. Raising that wage to $15 will cause product prices to go up, while service quality remains low. No one, and I mean no one, is going to go to McDonald’s to pay $6 or more for a Big Mac while having to deal with the rude cashier at the same time. The marketing model of fast food is cheap food served quickly. Take away the “fast” part and you are left with “cheap food” that most people would not pay more to eat.

Everyone who is involved in these demonstrations should also do some research and watch the news. The fast food industry is already developing machines that will replace you. Some restaurants have already eliminated servers by putting ordering stations at each table. The only thing servers do now is bring out the food and that may be on the way out as well. Replacing fast food cashiers with machines would be very easy and it is on its way.

The auto industry responded to worker demands for higher pay by giving out the higher pay and then replacing a vast majority of the workers with machines. Yes fast food workers, you can and will be replaced by machines. When the fast food industry had to put pictures of the food items on the cash registers to make sure the orders were processed properly, then that should have told you that you were on the way out.

Fast food workers seem to think that there aren’t other options for consumers to choose from. Most of my restaurant eating is done at local establishments. To be honest, if every fast food chain in the world closed tomorrow, it would not bother me at all. In order to make outlandish demands, you must have something that people cannot get anywhere else. Fast food workers are sadly mistaken if they think that people cannot get a good cheeseburger someplace else.

Some fast food workers may resent the jobs they have now, but they will resent the situation even more when those jobs are replaced by machines. When the public does not back your movement, then your movement will usually fail. Giving the fast food workers who have a professional attitude and good work ethic raises is a great idea. But no one is going to support a blanket proposal to pay fast food workers $15 per hour.

That is the sad and stark reality and it is where the fast food worker movement is headed. Times are a-changin’ and fast food workers are not going to like where things are headed.

Nick Oliver is a Niagara County resident and occasional fast food customer. His column appears every Wednesday and doesn’t cost you one penny to read.

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