Joel Libava
They only make $7.25 an hour.
That’s why hundreds of fast food franchise workers are going on strike in NYC.
Hourly employees from franchises like McDonald’s, Wendy’s and KFC are seeking to double their hourly pay-all the way up to $15 an hour.
Are they (mostly franchise business employees) asking too much?
Could you live on $7.25 an hour?
And, what would Ray Kroc of McDonald’s fame do about wages?
Get Your Calculator Out
I did.
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And, I actually had to do my computation twice-because I didn’t believe the first number that was displayed on my Casio®.
Workers that get paid $7.25 an hour-and who work 40 hour weeks make $15,080 a year.
That’s not a lot of money.
Making Burgers
Obviously, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to cook a burger or ring up a cash register.
And, hopefully, today’s college graduates…the ones that are graduating with $60,000 in student loan debt, aren’t finding themselves working in one of Ray Kroc’s fast food franchise empires. (As opposed to getting a cushy corporate well-paying job.)
Because if they are working at their local McDonald’s, they’ll have to move back home-and live with their parents.
For a long time.
Fast Food Forward
That’s the name of the group that organized this one-day walkout. Their website.
They’re arguing that the average wage for fast food franchise workers in the New York City area is around $9 an hour. If you compute that, it comes out to about $18,500 per year. Income like that is way under the U.S. Census Bureau’s threshold for poverty-level income; $23,000 per year for a family of four.
Fast Food Franchisees Have Their Challenges
Today’s fast-food franchisees don’t have it all that easy themselves.
They’re being hit with cost pressures; higher operating costs and Obamacare uncertainty are only two of them. And don’t forget that they’re paying 4-8% of their sales revenue to the franchisor.
It’s expensive to run a fast food franchise. But, that doesn’t mean that I want you to feel sorry for franchisees or franchisors.
But, something has to give.
Right?
PS- These striking employees want the right to form a union without intimidation or retaliation.
Image #1 courtesy of Tilemahos Efthimiadis, on Flickr
Image #2 courtesy of Franco Folini
About the Author
Joel Libava is The Franchise King® — an independent franchise advisor with 25+ years in the industry, two published books on franchising, and his writing has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, CNBC, Entrepreneur® Magazine and others. In addition, he wrote exclusively for the U.S. Small Business Administration blog for eight years. He doesn't sell franchises. Instead, Joel helps you figure out if franchise ownership is actually right for you — and if it is, teaches you his powerful, proven-to-work franchise research techniques, so you can make a smart, informed decision on a franchise to own and be your own boss.
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