The “fight for $15” has gained traction this summer, but even recent rulings won’t guarantee a higher minimum wage for fast food employees.

On August 27, the National Labor Relations Board decided on a new ruling which could allow workers and unions to argue their way toward higher pay. According to TIME, in the past, when bargaining for a higher pay, the parent company, for example, McDonald’s, would have to “directly oversee its employees to be considered a joint employer.”

Under the ruling, a parent company that hires a contractor is considered a joint employer of the workers at its facilities even if it has only indirect control over working conditions, the New York Times reports. Basically, what all of this means is that workers now have the ability to negotiate with the actual corporation, not just the management of their specific franchise location.

Essentially, some minimum wage workers believe that they need to be paid more in order to make a salary that would keep them out of poverty. While, in theory, this sounds like a good idea, raising the minimum wage will not do nearly as much as many believe it will to help get people above the poverty line.

One could argue this ruling would make negotiations between workers and corporations easier. However, it seems unlikely that a large, well known company like McDonald’s would agree to bankrupt itself, fire many of its employees or raise their prices, which would anger their millions of loyal patrons. Because of these possible repercussions, the corporation is more likely to see raising the minimum wage so drastically as a ridiculous notion.

First of all, there are people who are currently living below the poverty line who do not work. Those people would not be affected by a salary raise because they are not earning a salary. Even if a person in poverty was working one of these low-skill jobs, they are most likely secondary earners.

A raise to $15 dollars an hour would also end up causing mass job loss because employers would not be able to retain every single one of their employees and still pay them each a minimum of $15 per hour. Even if raising the minimum wage would, in theory, reduce the number of people in poverty, it would not be worth the mass loss of jobs across the country.

Most importantly, raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour would make it easy for these people to continue working at McDonald’s when they could be looking for better, more rewarding work. While making more money could be used for savings and ultimately to make for a better future, many people would settle with the wage increase and not pursue opportunities for education and career advancement.

McDonald’s workers do not deserve to earn more money than, for example, many teachers in public schools. Gaining an education, working hard and putting things in perspective is what these workers need to do.

Victoria Razzi is a sophomore advertising major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at vcrazzi@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @vrazzi.

Published on August 30, 2015 at 6:38 pm