There is a risk (for fast food workers) that as wages rise, there is more of an incentive for employers to explore ways of replacing workers. For example, most people are capable of placing orders on a touchscreen device and seem comfortable with this process (as evidenced by self-checkout lanes at grocery stores). A fast food company who used to pay $8/hr for cashiers but is now paying $15 and maybe will pay $20 soon might find it more economical to replace 4 cashiers with touchscreen ordering stations.

That's why they want a union. Raise the minimum wage and reduce or eliminate the risk of the job being eliminated.

All the more reason for this hypothetical company to want to replace them now, before they unionize.

"As fast-food workers, we prepare burgers and fries, not balance sheets. We struggle to survive from paycheck to paycheck, without million-dollar annual bonuses or second homes. We often work behind the scenes—or counters, getting little of the credit for billions of dollars in company profits."

I feel bad, but why is a mother of four still working a minimum wage job at Mcdonalds? Minimum wage was never meant to support an entire family (especially a family of four).

I'm not sure what more credit these workers want. They don't have that much responsibility. Their job is to either put pre-cooked food in the fryer or accept money at the register. They get a paycheck on time for a job completed. This should be enough.

"and many of those barely pay more than minimum wage."

So Mcdonalds is STILL paying more than minimum wage in many instances, and it's not enough? I like how this is buried in the article..even though the title would make you believe that they only pay minimum wage.

"We’ll discuss how to escalate our fight for $15 an hour and a union."

I feel like basic economics has been lost.

An increase in only Mcdonalds wages, might work, but Mcdonalds would never do this because the prices would increase and couldn't stay competitive anymore.

An increase in minimum wage would only decrease the spending power for everyone because goods and services that rely on minimum wage workers (which is pretty much everywhere), would be forced to increase their prices.

You can see examples of this in any country with a high minimum wage. I went to Australia a few months ago and the cost of a combo meal at Mcdonalds was almost $10. At this point, your spending power doesn't really increase that much.