Editor:
I read the article last week about employees at Wendy’s walking away from their jobs with equal parts sympathy and consternation. Most of us have, at one time or another, worked for minimum wage. I got my very first “real” job, at a family-style restaurant in my hometown, in the summer of 1979, when the minimum wage was $2.90 per hour. A year later, I got a raise when it increased to $3.10.
That dishwashing job was hot and nasty, but I grasped that I needed to pay my dues even at that young age. The following summer, I parlayed my work experience into a better job at a country club that paid $4.00/hour and eventually worked my way up to $5.25.
That $2.90 wage I earned in 1979-80 works out to $10.58 today, and that’s where sympathy comes in. I would not ask anyone to work for less, relatively, than I did as a know-nothing, unskilled teen. The minimum wage should be higher than $7.25, somewhere around $10.50, in my opinion.
But, my consternation comes with the idea that every job should provide a “living wage.” Most fast food and entry-level retail jobs are not and never have been intended as a primary income source. The business model for places like Wendy’s is to hire multiple young, inexperienced workers (primarily students) and part-time workers simply looking to supplement the family income at minimum wage or slightly higher and work them a limited number of hours. This pool of low-cost, low-skill, high-turnover labor is what allows them to keep prices low. Even so, there are opportunities for advancement into a full-time supervisory or management position and to earn that living wage. Alternately, the work experience gained can be leveraged into a better-paying job elsewhere.
I agree that no one should be attempting to raise a family on the wages from a part-time, entry-level fast-food job, even if that wage was raised to $10.50. At last count, there were 312 jobs available in Anson County on the NCWorks.gov system. Most of them pay far more than minimum wage, and the majority a living wage. Virtually all of them require some education and training. If you want to earn a living wage, don’t leave it up to the manager at Wendy’s. Have a plan, get an education and skills training (free at SPCC with the Anson Advantage), and, yes, expect to work that entry-level, minimum-wage job while you gain work experience. It worked for me. It worked for just about everyone who has a good job today. It will work for you.
John Marek
Wadesboro