Fast Food

All across the nation (supposed) fast-food workers are agitating for higher wages (to at least $15 per hour) … and to be able to unionize. This is clearly a cooperative strategy between the Obama administration and the SEIU (Service Employees International Union) … see: Associated Press Story for the details.

Without going into all the pros and cons of this dust-up there is, to me, one clear consequence if this union has its way with the fast-food industry. And that is that there will be fewer entry-level jobs for our nation’s youngsters ... and maybe even older employees too. If this industry wants to continue to offer value-based fast food, then it will need to innovate its way out of the box in which it would be placed. It would be forced to automate even faster and further the delivery mechanisms for its product in order to maintain competitive pricing … see the following for one such possibility – burger robots: Business Insider Story.

Basically, increased productivity as a result of automation will be forced on these franchises even quicker than might normally occur. Although I am all for improved productivity, I don’t necessarily believe that the gutting of these entry-level jobs is really going to help things for our inner-city youths. Yes, the SEIU bosses will still be fat and happy … but at a serious cost to our society.