Yesterday, I read an article on CNNMoney.com by a certain Emily Jane Fox. The headline caught my eye: “McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King Workers Protest in NYC.” I love reading about a good protest as much as the next person, if for no other reason than to wonder at the thought process behind it.
Not surprisingly, it seems fast food workers want to make more money in New York. But, who doesn’t want to make more money, with the possible exception of Warren Buffett? After all, everything else being equal, more money is generally better than less. But was or is there merit to the workers’ complaints?
The tone of Ms. Fox’s writing would suggest she believes there is. She foisted upon the American public a woman by the name of Pamela Waldron, who makes $7.75/hour working as a cashier at the KFC in Penn Station; a job she has held for 8 years. Of course, this wage is $0.50/hour more than the Federal minimum wage.
As Ms. Fox points out in her article: “KFC worker Waldron says she would be homeless with her kids if it were not for her husband’s union-represented job at the grocery store chain Pathmark.” Hmm. I wonder why the adjective phrase ‘union represented’ is in there, don’t you? Wouldn’t it have been enough to simply point out her husband works at the grocery, and they need both jobs to make ends meet? Why the union talk?…Read on…
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