Minimum wage strike backfires, employer closes

[rangerrebew]

Minimum Wage Strike Backfires, Employer Closes

December 25, 2013 by B. Christopher Agee 14 Comments




Protesters from coast to coast have engaged in recent efforts to artificially raise the minimum wage to unsustainable levels. If successful, these shortsighted strikers will ensure massive layoffs and a sharp spike in retail prices to absorb the increased operating expense.
 
 



Sometimes, however, the strikes themselves can lead to similar unintended consequences. Such was the case with Snarf’s Sub Shop in Chicago, which was the site of a minimum wage rally earlier this month.

After four straight days of dormancy due to the strike outside, the sandwich shop apparently had great difficulty recovering. Though the store’s management denies any correlation, the business’ 20 employees received an electronic pink slip just two days before Christmas.

Moving forward, the store’s owners are considering the possible launch of a completely different restaurant next year – apparently without the workers who staged the detrimental walkout.

“The store is closing … for an unknown period of time for this remodeling and reconcepting,” an email to all employees stated. “All staff is terminated, effective Monday, December 23, 2013.”

While strikes at franchise locations of major corporations – such as McDonald’s and Subway – came and went with little effect on their bottom line, smaller operations are often unable to bounce back.
 
 



Snark’s marketing director Jill Preston said the closure is due to a slow Christmas season; however, the shop has operated through the month of December in previous years without closing completely. Furthermore, the shop is set to reopen as a completely different entity, leaving its legacy as a sandwich destination behind.

Preston concluded former employees will be able to apply for a position at the new restaurant. At that point, management will be able to decide whether to welcome back employees whose unreasonable demands forced the business to shut down for four days.

The offer was not sufficient for the Worker’s Organizing Committee of Chicago, the union behind this and a number of other area strikes.

Members of the union picketed the now-closed business Monday, seeking severance pay and replacement jobs for the fired employees.

“Three days before Christmas and not even a call,” communications director Deivid Rojas said in response, concluding the situation is “not fair.”

Only in the leftist mind does a participant in such a disruptive display deserve a reward from the victim of his tantrum.

The fact remains that operating a business – especially a restaurant – is a delicate balancing act. While most employers are happy to pay worthwhile employees what they are worth, indiscriminately paying more will not only result in a loss of revenue but an eventual loss of jobs.

Read more at http://www.westernjournalism.com/minimum-wage-strike-backfires-employer-closes/#pxO1ZawDU0o5fvsy.99

[SouthTexas]

Members of the union picketed the now-closed business Monday, seeking severance pay and replacement jobs for the fired employees.

Keep beating that dead horse.

[rangerrebew]

Members of the union picketed the now-closed business Monday, seeking severance pay and replacement jobs for the fired employees.

Keep beating that dead horse.

Maybe, if they didn't pay union dues, they wouldn't have needed the pay raise.

[SouthTexas]

Maybe, if they didn't pay union dues, they wouldn't have needed the pay raise.

 

[happyg]

Stupid unions! If the guy had money for severance pay and other benefits, the place would still be open.

[GourmetDan]

Stupid unions! If the guy had money for severance pay and other benefits, the place would still be open.

Teaching children basic business and economic skills would go a long way toward an informed, productive society.

I suppose that's why the government schools don't require it...

[Oceander]

Stupid unions! If the guy had money for severance pay and other benefits, the place would still be open.

They do, apparently, have the money needed to remodel the restaurant; then again, perhaps they have new investors coming in, but only for the new operation.

[raml]

What they have or don't have is none of anyone's business. It is their right to close a business not doing that well and reopening it as something else using what ever money they have available to them. Unions in this day and age do more damage than good. I said that years ago when the car companies had unions choking them for more and more benefits it has to stop sometime because the consumers only take so much before rebelling and keeping their cars for much longer time periods and when the money dries up either the benefits go or the company does and then more and more jobs are gone. I though dental coverage was stupid and it would raise the cost of a dentist and it did for non insurance payers. My ex was a top executive at Fords so we in the end benefited from this but I still thought it stupid and that it would backfire and it did. To me people should have been happy with vacation pay and medical maybe then we wouldn't be having the problems we have today with all the companies going to other countries because of the high cost of employing people here in the states.

[rangerrebew]

Now, now, now!  Our more liberal friends assume businesses are there for two reasons only; to provide income and insurance for those who wish to work and unemployment benefits for those who choose not to.  A profit motive for business is not even a consideration for our liberal brothers and sisters.

[Carling]

They do, apparently, have the money needed to remodel the restaurant; then again, perhaps they have new investors coming in, but only for the new operation.

They may be taking out a loan ... or, they are putting money back into their business to make it more profitable.  What they don't need are a bunch of entitled adult sandwich slingers who think they're supposed to have an entry-level job for the rest of their life.

[EC]

Was talking to a friend of mine last week.

She runs the coffee/breakfast stand mornings, next to North Greenwich station (incidentally, the best coffee in London, but avoid the burgers. The bacon is pretty much luck for how fatty it is, but she'll cook it to your level of crispness if you ask.) She starts at 4 AM and her shift finishes at noon. No heating apart from the grill. We complain to each other about the weather and the economy.

A cup of coffee costs £1.10 - that's about $1.90. You put in your own milk and sugar, and your choices are semi skimmed milk and white sugar cubes. The kiosk makes a profit of about 20p per cup, after taking out utilities, plot rental, supplies (including cleaning supplies, people are pigs). That 20 pence has to pay not only her, but the concession owner. There is almost no margin in fast food or sandwich shops. A Subway kiosk has opened inside the station and their trade is flushing down the drain, since Subway has the clout to get cheaper prices from suppliers and they have the money to pay for a better spot.