Fry Cook a Career?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/29/nyregion/drive-to-unionize-fast-food-workers-opens-in-ny.html?ref=nyregion

When I saw this article yesterday in the New York Times my first thought was - WHAT! One of the workers at McDonald's quoted in the article said she is getting paid $8 hour but feels she deserves $15 hour. Really? Now I know that it is expensive to live in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and other major metropolitan areas but are we to this point as a society that being a fry cook or a cashier at McDonald's, or any fast food establishment, is a career.

Don't get me wrong, working for McDonald's is a great place to learn business, develop client service skills and test one's ability to multi-task. Not to mention that one can move from Fry Cook or Cashier to an owner of a franchise as well. Instead of complaining about the $8 hour wage, why not try to obtain more skills to move up the food chain at McDonald's or with another company.

I am okay with private Unionization of workers but we need some common sense to take place here. If Fry Cooks and Cashiers start making $15 a hour we will either have a value menu at $5 an item or the portion sizes with be even smaller than they are today. And as the one owner in the article states, if the wage does go up then that means fewer jobs. McDonald's has a great educational reimbursement program for the workers, why isn't the $8 hour Cashier trying to take advantage of that so she can move up in McDonald's or find gainful employment elsewhere?