The real minimum wage, no matter how much liberal politicians try to deny it, is and always will be zero. Now, California fast-food workers are learning this lesson the hard way, as the owners of their places of employment are reacting to the economy-crushing minimum wage hike by eliminating employees and bringing in automated kiosks for order placement. It didn't take long, did it?
Of course, he's accelerating his plans; this is his livelihood, which he is under no obligation to surrender to appease the vote-selling efforts of pandering leftist politicians who, when it comes to basic economics, are stubbornly ignorant of the difference between face and fundament. If you'd have asked us here at RedState, we could have told you this would happen - and in fact, we did. See Related: Like AB5, CA's Fast-Food Minimum Wage Hike Results in Layoffs, Closures, and Higher Prices
The first layer of this stinker is economic; businesses, to survive, to continue providing goods and services, have to be profitable. When faced with this kind of situation, that is, the artificial inflation of labor costs by government fiat, they have to either raise revenues or reduce costs. The itch here is that fast food is a discretionary expenditure for almost everyone; if prices go up, patronage goes down. The second layer of this stinker is employment. Fast food has several avenues for automation. An owner can use kiosks, and replace all the the order-takers. There are other options as well, like the RoboBurger automated burger machine, which handles the burger-making process from start to finish, even allowing for custom orders - so customers can have it their way, prepared by a robot. And the former employees? Well, that says it all, doesn't it? They are now former employees. They are now earning that aforementioned real-world minimum wage: Zero. One could even replace the entire outlet with just the RoboBurger and eliminate any employee beyond the one who occasionally has to stock and service the machine, like any other vending machine. The sad part of this is that, not so very long ago, flipping burgers at a fast food joint was how a lot of young folks got their first employment experience. I knew a guy in high school who got himself a job flipping burgers and frying fries in a McDonald's outlet in town; twenty years later, he owned a chain of franchises. Now that opportunity, at least in California, is gone. This was inevitable, from the moment California's impeccably coiffed Governor signed this stupid bill. It reveals, once again, the sad state of California's state government, and the economic illiteracy of California legislators. A generation of young people, who would be looking for part-time work and would gain valuable experience in the workplace, are now priced out of the market. Good going, Sacramento. Keep it up. You're doing terrific. And yes, that is sarcasm. |
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