Opinion: The Three-Dollar Menu5/17/2013 1:58PM
Employment Policies Institute Michael Saltsman on the fast food worker strikes that are sweeping across the Midwest. Photo: Getty Images
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... I ... back to Opinion Journal I'm Mary Kissel ... first it was New York now fast food worker strike the strikes and move to the Midwest and Chicago ... Argus demands of going to backfire on the workers themselves ... Employment Policies Institute director Michael Solsman joins me now from Washington ... and ... Michael all s mania simple question but ... our fast food workers paid what you'd consider a fair wage Paulsen even determined in the market thank you ... sure so I mean I think their wages very fast food workers it ended the day the entry level employees are people were just getting started in the workforce ... and so there we choose to reflect that the media to meet the minimum wage is maybe a little bit above minimum wage depending on the business ... I'm but it's an entry level wages may see who we've seen it happen is over time people get into a job ... on the work their way up in a couple of months due to one did fall once the receiver reason so ... I think their wages while it may not be of live in ways that it's an entry level wage did something that to build on something to work work your way up from the Fed Michael toughest thing through the implications of doubling the minimum wage for fast food workers ... what would that mean ... for these companies' ability to ... hire more workers sore ... eyes to charge a lot of pop for a burger without even be possible ... yet when a you know when we like to sit in the ninety nine cent menu would probably be tended the three ninety nine many of the Clean associate you talk about these kind of businesses who are making a few thousand dollars in profit for each employee ... yet fifteen dollar minimum wage that's about it in the sticker minimum wage at about sixteen thousand dollars to the cost of a full-time minimum wage employee ... and so you either have to dramatically raise the cost your product yet to finally deliver a lot cheaper ... I don't see at your Tennessee unrealistic price increases or more likely because ... with fireplaces customers can to stop for the grocery store so I think more like the we see is ... you see a fast food business looks very different you see touch screens and that in the front customers even placed orders in the back the house ... IPCC lot more automation me see that ... the robot burger flippers be used to joke about the vaccine will become much more cost effective when you have to pay fifteen dollars now are somebody to have the flavor so like I do think that this can accelerate that trend using more I see ... nobody takes your warrior the the the Hamburg it's popped out of the two when you push a button ... absolutely I mean you know I think ... our leaders the country has seen Francisco called momentum machines that is serve ... as a machine like this that they've been advertising ... in a clinic current labor costs that it pays for itself and by the year ... OS again at the current labor cost savings you double current labor costs ... to surfing the could pay for itself in a matter of months so ... I absolutely think it will excel read these trends in the murder and these are sitting here ... scratching your heads in a twenty four percent in employment later I'm include rate for ... people with less than high school diploma and wondering will where the jobs go it's been we automated ... Michael I got a lot of reader feedback the last time we talked about this issue it were really got people fired up and wanted the questions was got married ... you really find these workers who don't know that their ... actions into things that could cost them their own job ... on ... you fool who is really making the counter argument or is anybody pushing back on what these unions are demanding ... yet well ... you know I'd I think it's it's soft it's the it's tough to push back sometimes because they ... the arguments are made a mean is if you look of the recent protests the unit may ... be fine variants are difficult cases they find someone who's maybe a mini is a ... young person or maybe a family whose for working in this job ... I went with the unions were able to find somebody who didn't the minimum wage for much longer period of time ... um so I think they make the arguments are from the exceptions from the people who ... I'm are most like these for garner public sympathy ... I think the right response to that needs to be not getting into that instead saying well ... companies public policy to address some of those difficult cases ... and how can we make sure that the vast majority of people into the hat entry level jobs available ... so they can work their way up the ladder like the rest of us ... more A especially in this economy with this lackluster recovery ... employment Policies Institute Michael