Jackson Jambalaya

If I were the owner of these locations I would start posting ads for new,applications. Had a similar situation with my payday loan stores 3 years ago... guess what hired new people & they're very happy with there jobs.

Accounting Clerks, LPN's, Bank Tellers, Policemen, Correctional officers, teachers' assistants, emergency medical technician (EMT's) and so many other skilled jobs don't pay $15 an hour. The burger flipper that can't get my order right definitely does NOT deserve to make more than any of the above jobs (not to mention the MANY more that have not been listed). Most of them don't even have the decency to be polite to the paying customer. Also, one of their responsibilities is to keep the eating areas clean. I quit going to most fast food chains simply because the eating areas are regularly NASTY!

I used to get angry at this sort of thing. Now I just feel sorry for these people. They don't understand that they aren't worth $15 an hour. In five years, when touch screens are ubiquitous, they won't be worth $2 an hour. It's not a moral issue. It's a "what people are willing to pay for a crappy hamburger" issue.

In a sane world, they'd be using their ample free time to develop a skill at a community college or something. But someone persuaded them that the world owes them a living, and that money appears by magic. So they squander their lives with this nonsense.

Why are they protesting at City Hall about wages at a private business?

@2:06 - because they are idiots!

I helped build the freakin rabadaba app (if you don't have it, you should) and I don't get paid $15 an hour...a freakin programmer! (i should probably bargain for more :)

Are they doing the nae nae?

But I work for GE

I don't know guys, I'm kind of leaning their way. Hear me out.

We all know that Jackson can't recover unless/until it hits absolute rock bottom, right? I'm talking bulldoze abandoned businesses and houses, population dropping by 75%, make Detroit look like Nashville rock bottom.

And how better to accomplish that than for the City of Jackson to implement a $15/hr minimum wage? It would basically be a neutron bomb -- all the people gone and just the buildings left standing.

the minimum wage should be raised. Perhaps not to $15, but at least to something around $10. I say that as a business owner and someone who voted republican across the board last week.

hey mr. 2:49 business owner,
feel free to pay your employees $10.00 an hour. Nobodys saying you can't.

They are at City Hall because the successes in raising minimum wages have been in cities, like Seattle. It's possible for a city to create a law for that. State legislatures don't have any inclination to do so, except in the West or Northeast. For example, WA state has a $9,47 wage at state level but a $15 one in Seattle. CA has $9 now, but will go to $10 an hour next year. States and cities can set minimum wages. at or above the Federal DOL minimum.

sounds like a good way to kill off the few remaining jackson businesses. Rock on!

They think they are entitled to higher wages. But it doesn't cross their mind to actually EARN a higher wage. Will they be a better worker if they get more money? Will they be financially responsible if they get more money? Nooooo...just more "stuff" to purchase and things to do. They are not looking for better quality of life...just better quantity!

And 2:57 is spot on with their comment. You have workers that deserve $10 and hour...then pay them!

2:57, spoken like a true titan of industry.

Good for them. I support their efforts. They have a right to ask for more. Of course, the owner has the right to fire them and replace them. The odd thing is that City Hall has no legal right in Mississippi to set a higher minimum wage. I doubt the City of Jackson has a $15 minimum wage.

I believe it is a Democrat that owns the McDonalds franchises in Jackson. He needs to make Obama proud and pay it.

They must not be hurting too bad to miss a day of work. There is no way they deserve $15/hr. I can see $8/hr. There's no skill required except to pay attention and follow directions. I've done it many times as a second job. Nobody comes in on time and all you hear are complaints that they "work you too hard" for the money.

Wow! Someone admits to owning a " pay day loan" operation. Would have been a loan shark before loan sharking was made legal!

Why are we upset about WORKERS wanting more money? Shouldn't we celebrate their WORKING and not their ability to work a government handout?

Heard Bernie Sanders earlier today, waving that fly-away hair, a crowd of McDonald's types behind him, decrying the plight of minimum wage workers. Rambled on loudly about people who make too much money and the income disparity gap getting wider and wider and fifteen bucks being an acceptable minimum wage.

I'm sure an LPN makes more than fifteen bucks an hour, but these protesters certainly don't deserve it and won't GET it.

Welcome to 1968. As the year progresses look for more and more unrest, rioting, campus disturbances and labor unrest. The organizers in these groups know they only have 13 months left of Obama cover. And remember what happened to the democrats in 1968. The uber liberal Hubert Humphrey was roundly defeated. The silent majority had seen a year of out of control riots, protests, campus madness. Nixon won.

Let them go wild. The crazier they get the more they drive the moderate to the right out of fear and loathing.

Wages are a commodity that should be controlled by supply and demand. If they are worth more money and that's what they want, they should find a job paying more money. Minimum wages are a zero sum game where government renders some unemployed so that others may make more. The economics of it are not every complicated and fairly established. Nobody should fault them for wanting more money. They should be faulted for asking government to intervene and pick winners and losers.

They cannot center a round piece of meat on a round bun!

2:46pm, have you ever seen a city hit "rock bottom" and then recover? Your Detroit example fails, because it hasn't recovered in any appreciable manner. Your entire post is a fail, since your assumption that a city must hit rock bottom in order to recover, has never happened.

I am here to represent the unfairly targeted "hamburger flippers that get my order wrong'. For starters, we flippers do not fulfill orders, we professionaly saute, grill, flame-broil or fry your burger to the nth degree of perfection. This artistry allows the product of our mastery to survive under the lights until you place your drive thru order. It is not us, the "flippers"that get your order wrong. On no! It is the ""other mother f@#$ers"" that mess you sh@t up. So don't go bitching unless you know what you bitching about. Bitch.

I travel to Orlando a bit and frequently stop at the WaWa gas station on Semoran for a sandwich. The food is much better than other sandwich shops, but the greatest thing is that you place your order on a device similar to an IPad. You would have to use one to understand how great it is...no bad attitudes to deal with and always get exactly what I ordered. You can customize your sandwich in any way possible. High volumes at noon also have a very fast turnaround time. Check it out if you are ever near a WaWa....they are scattered around the Mid-Atlantic area.

8:24 if you are getting min. wage you should count your blessings.
You do sound well educated so go get another job.

The only fast food place I ever visit is Chick-fil-a. They are well trained, very friendly and seem to like their job. This is proof the other food places could get the same results.
McDonalds has the absolute worst workers. I have not been in a McDonalds in years. They are protesting because they know there will be no raise based on merit. They think breakfast all day is the answer to business slow down. you can not serve a good fresh burger and fries really breakfast at 2 ?????

I am 20-plus years fast food restaurant owner and let me tell you what is happening. Recently job applicants who can't fill out the application without help turn to my manager and say "What you paying?" We tell them $8 per hour to start with an evaluation after 90 days. (Most never make it 90 days) And the response from at least 75% is: "I ain't working for less than 15." Our response is: "Thank you for stopping by." The reality is I am investing in people who really want the work and pay them considerably more. But you have to have a great attitude and be willing to pitch in and contribute and become a part of the team. I don't need people who, for example, walk by a spill and don't clean it up, or have to be told to fill the napkin dispensers. I'm in the food business and don't have time to herd cats. There are good people out there who can prosper in this industry, but the ones at city hall aren't in that group.

Thank you 2:08 AM. I too have heard the expression "I won't work for less than $. But they don't really want to work. Like you said...clean up a spill, fill the napkins.... is that really asking too much of the person that is PAID to do that? And when they do get a job, the response is "they don't pay me enough to do that." Well, if you took the job for the pay, then do the job! And if you do a good job and stick with it, you just might get a raise and move up in this world! And I'm not just talking about fast food here folks, so don't jump my a$$ about "moving up in the world" at McDonalds!

It seems Chick fila doesn't have a problem with matters such as these. Perhaps the expectations are stated in advance or the culture is vastly different. Any one have any ideas as to why?

If you want a higher minimum wage, that is fine. Just climb into your jacked up crown vic or your leased Mercedes and take yourself out to Seattle or Commiefornia and maybe, just maybe you can find a job that pays that amount but, understand that the cost of living out there will eat up the difference.
The "poor" have been listening to the Democrats promising to give them prosperity for over 50 years and blindly voting Democrat. Now, guess what? They are still "POOR"!

Oh, Pitt. Did mean old reality hurt your feelings again? Maybe you need a safe space?

Detroit is a shell of its former self, but it's significantly better than it was two years ago, thanks to (1) hitting rock bottom; (2) a takeover by the state and a bankruptcy trustee; and (3) bulldozing half the city. Google is your friend.

That said, I'll grant that "rock bottom" is a last ditch effort. The alternative is "Jackson can't be saved, period." In which case, it would just be funny to watch it burn. A win, either way.

This is business as usual. Google "we out of meet" or "I have a deram".

Amazing. IF you ignore economic rule #1, this is still wrong on at least three levels.
First - how much business would McDonald's loose if they paid these wages? A lot. Many of these jobs would no longer exist. Second - if they paid $15 they could hire experienced workers with good work histories and most of the folks that have those jobs now would be out of work. Third - what is the unemployment rate for teens? Especially for black teens? How are they going to get their first job at $15 when they have no experience, little education, and are actually worth about $5? Answer, they won't. They will be on welfare or committing crimes or both instead of learning how to work.
Now, to economic rule #1 - every day you are free to quit your job and go to a better one. Every day your employer is free to fire you and replace you with someone they think is better. In order to make a better life, economically, you need to make money for your employer. If you do that and he does not reward you someone else will. Government intervention is not needed and actually hampers the process.

12:50 and the rest of you dumbasses that keep screwing this up....in this context, the word is NOT loose. It is LOSE. Please learn the difference as I am loosing my mind regarding it.

7:32. Google Chattanooga. Little Rock. Cincinnati. Cleveland. The list is endless.

Everyone knows $8 an hour is not enough to live on in 2015 (I don't care what you did in 1970). That's not to say the government should get in to this. However, chik-fil-a treats it's employees much better than McDonalds and look at the difference in customer experience there. I agree that a lot of McDonalds employees are minimally competent at best, but McDonalds is getting what it pays for. Obviously, some of these fast food chains care too little about their customers to pay for competent employees (or quality food). The solution? Go to an actual restaurant (not some fast food place). Both the under-paying employer and the crappy employee lose.

Another thing these folks don't get is the wages are set by workers. If I start a company and want to pay unskilled labor $9.00, but discover that everyone who agrees to work for that wage is too poor a worker for me to keep then I am forced to pay more. Furthermore, I will have to keep raising the wage until I can hire as many dependable people as I need. On the other hand, I might start offering $8 and discover that I am swamped with applications from good people. Over time I may lower to wage to $7.50. In the long run I cannot pay more than the least amount that competent, dependable people will agree to work for. As the employer I get to propose what the wage rate should be, but in the long run the workers control how much I pay. My company cannot exist without them. So if the workers think wages are too low, they should look at their fellow workers who are taking those jobs and satisfying their bosses. (And of course as others have said, they should improve their own skills and resume so they can earn more over time)

5:10 has the solution: "The solution? Go to an actual restaurant (not some fast food place)."

But he forgot to provide a list of 'actual restaurants' in this or any other city that serves breakfast prior to 8 or 9 a.m.

People go to a fast food place for...wait for it...fast food. So they eat quickly and quickly go where they need to be. Or because they can eat on the road on the way to where they need to be.

It's not as if all of us can wait until Primos opens at 9:00 and then pay $10.50 for a biscuit and grits.

Of course you could always go eat at Broad Street and have a 15 dollar omelet or 12 dollar egg sandwich like all the rich stuck up NE Jackson and fondren woodland hills yuppies do!!!!

$15/hour and a 40 hour week is over $31K a year. Should they really get paid more than teachers, police, etc?

Many good solutions here:

1) Don't support McDonald's anywhere, but especially not in Jackson. Hopefully they will all shut down/move. Result: McDonald's employees AND customers are all gone! Positive!

2) Regarding Jackson and "rock bottom:" Noone can do anything to stop that from happening. Theoretically I suppose various things could be done to hasten or slow the process, but it is inevitable. Jackson is Port-Au-Prince, Mogadishu, and/or Johannesburg. Anyone who does not recognize that is beyond anyone's ability to help.