The push for a minimum wage of fifteen dollars an hour is forcing companies to rethink their strategy. For fast food restaurants like Wendy’s there is very little choice. They have to automate. Today, Wendy’s announced the installation of kiosks, where people can place their order and pay without the need for a human cashier. If you consider that it takes at least one and sometimes two or more cashiers at any one time, that would eliminate at least eight people and when you add in the take out line it must be twelve employees per store on average and at 6,000 stores, you are looking at 72,000 people out of work this year alone.
Wendy’s says that they will look at replacing other workers with machines if needed because the increased wages at many of their stores are rising faster than they can raise prices. McDonald’s has already started using kiosks in some areas and has even opened one fully automated restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona.
The news gets worse for fast food workers.
This is a machine built by Momentum Machines. This machine grinds the meat, cooks it, slices fresh lettuce, onion and tomato while the burger is cooking. It then wraps the sandwich and it’s ready to go. Best of all it makes 400 sandwiches an hour or one every less than 10 seconds. You can deliver a fresher sandwich that you are used to and your sandwich is ready in 10 seconds.
The ironic thing is so many fast food workers march on the picket line calling for a 15 dollar minimum wage, when the movement really has nothing to do with getting workers 15 dollars an hour. As soon as any city or state votes in the $15 minimum wage, the unions swoop in and get an amendment exempting unions. This is the clever part and the reason that unions are bankrolling the “Fight for Fifteen” movement.
Companies, whose employees have a union contract are exempt. That means companies can avoid paying $15 an hour if they allow a union in. They can give employees a token raise and pay the union for medical and pensions instead of their private companies and the unions collect union dues. It can add a lot of union employees and everyone wins except the employees who end making the same after paying their dues and buying their book.