Workers shouldn't be demanding a minimum wage increase. They should be looking for ways to increase their value to businesses, which will always increase their wages, regardless of government intervention.
Now we are seeing monopolistic practices driving prices of basic needs to the moon and then blaming it on workers wanting to make enough to barely live? I'm not buying it.
The difference is that the franchise taker doesn't get to underpay workers to prop up their own compensation. If they want higher compensation, they'll have to work for it and expand.
Nah. The minimum wage is "we would pay you less if we could, but we cannot." The business will extract as much as possible regardless of the value workers deliver. They are not going to magically pay you more because you are more efficient or deliver more value, but you might get a pizza party.
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MCD/mcdonalds/gros...
> McDonald's gross profit for the twelve months ending June 30, 2023 was $13.900B, a 6.55% increase year-over-year.
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/CMG/chipotle-mexic...
> Chipotle Mexican Grill gross profit for the twelve months ending June 30, 2023 was $2.383B, a 30.05% increase year-over-year.
Shareholders and management will need to make peace with lower go forward returns and comp, respectively. Workers deserve a living wage and are enabled to get it in the current macro (structural demographics and executive branch posture, NLRB specifically). Robust labor policy and labor organizing is the only antidote for corporate sociopathy.
> A Special Report on Greedflation: How Corporations Are Making Record Profits On The Backs of American Families
https://www.casey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/greedflation1.pdf
That is what what the minimum wage is, but I'm not sure that's indicative of a flaw. We are all seeking the most value for our money. E.g. I need some repairs done to my roof. One company quoted me $1,800 and another $4,200. Considering I had a recommendation for the first company, I went with them. That is something we all do, and it isn't indicative of sociopathy. If the second company was offering more value (better matching roof shingles, a much shorter time to start, etc) then it might be worth more money. Otherwise, like fast food workers, they're generally interchangeable and by saving money I can choose to spend it on something else of value.
Doesn't matter how much value you generate for The Company. They're perfectly happy to take it from you for free if they can get away with it. Without bargaining power and leverage, either through unions or scarcity of labour, there's no natural limit to how little a company will pay it's employees.
Used to be that knowledge workers were scarce, now everyone is getting degrees. The scarcity of the engineering labour pool that meant people could get good jobs without a union is gone. If you want a good job, get a union.