Putting the Minimum Wage Cart Before the Horse

As I read this article on yahoo news, I was appalled.  It reports on a fast food workers’ rebellion in NYC inspired by the Wal-Mart protests over Thanksgiving.  The workers, paid little more than minimum wage, now feel empowered to push for higher pay plus benefits.

On a side note, I thought the Wal-Mart protest was a study in irony.  Here we had people arguing that their employer was heartless for forcing them to work on Thanksgiving Day when they should have been allowed spend the time with their families.  They protested by refusing to go to work, but instead of staying home with their families, a number of them spent the day demonstrating against Wal-Mart.  That was a real head-scratcher.  It’s really all about expectations.  

Coming from a military background followed by a career in transportation, I understand that many people have to work on holidays and birthdays and miss family events.  Whenever possible, those celebrations are moved to a more convenient time not dictated by the calendar.  My local newspaper interviewed some workers at a regional big box store who were working on Thanksgiving.  The store is open 24 hours every day except Christmas.  The workers there had no complaints; they knew the schedule.  It’s all about expectations.

The reason I was shocked by the article was a sentence in the sixth paragraph defending the fast-food protest by saying that these workers “don't make enough money to support their families.”  As a result, the taxpayers absorb costs (that the big corporations refuse to pay) as the workers must “rely on public assistance.”

Wait a minute!  Where do they get the idea that they should start a family without having the means to provide for that family?  Isn’t that a little backward?  With only a fast food job, someone decides it’s OK to get married and/or have some kids and then to assume that the government, that is, we taxpayers must ensure they can afford to raise their children properly.  This behavior is the opposite of responsibility.  It may be different if it’s a temporary situation between better paying jobs, but to start a family without the means to care for a family should not be defended or seen as justification to shift the costs of a poor decision onto the employer or the customers.  If you want to start a family, first do your best in school and get a good job.  Leave the minimum wage jobs to those just starting out.

This is not presented as one or two isolated instances, but a pattern of expectations.  As a nation, do we now set such low standards for our citizens that we are not troubled by this behavior?  Have we been conditioned to accept this reverse thinking as acceptable?  We call ourselves caring, but is it really caring to set up a system that condones, even encourages, people to makes such ill-advised life decisions? 

We are back to expectations. Such problems cannot be solved unless they are recognized and acknowledged.  It’s time for America to raise expectations – put responsibility where it belongs.  We can’t continue to allow others to shift the blame for the consequences of their own behavior, expecting the costs to be covered by us taxpayers.  Nor should we continue to tolerate those advocates who support them.