Mark SumnerOct 22, 2024
Andrea Junker 

McDonald’s USA
— Employee: $15/hr, no benefits
— Big Mac: $5.90

McDonald’s Denmark
— Employee: $22/hr, 6 weeks vacation, 1 year paid maternity leave, life insurance, pension
— Big Mac: $5.66

Tell us more about how raising the minimum wage would affect the cost of hamburgers.

Oct 20, 2024 at 7:17pmWeb
Show threadgeoff martinOct 20, 2024
@Strandjunker One extra piece of information to add to that: there’s no legislated minimum wage here in Denmark. Wages are negotiated between workers’ unions and the employers.
Show threadOliver SchafeldOct 20, 2024

🧑‍🍳 "Would you like a bit of source on the side?"

🙋"Why, yes please!"

🧑‍🍳 "Here you go. Enjoy!"

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/is-the-following-information-c-cHEIxRljQjmwkkHwamjwUg

Show threadGabriel ElisavetskyOct 20, 2024

@oliver_schafeld Hope your “AI as source” is satire, lol. Also, your alt text needs some work in this instance.

Edit:
It turns out that no, the post by Oliver is not satire. Source: Oliver replied to their post somewhere below.

Show threadJames BrittOct 20, 2024

@elisavetsky @oliver_schafeld

The idea of pointing to an "AI" site as a reliable source is pretty funny.

Show threadTobiWanKenobiOct 21, 2024

@jamesbritt

Some people take Donald Dumb or Elmo as reliable source, so it could be worse. 😅

@elisavetsky @oliver_schafeld

Show threadAknorals⚑Ⓐ 🏴Oct 21, 2024

@jamesbritt @elisavetsky @oliver_schafeld My glorified autocorrect machine thinks these sentences are the most probable. Thus, this statement is true.

(Don't do this, LLMs should be for entertainment only)

Show threadApicultor 🐝Oct 20, 2024
@oliver_schafeld Ah yes, and doctors recommend 2-3 cigarettes a day during pregnancy, too, so I hear.
Show threadOliver SchafeldOct 20, 2024

The sources researched with AI assistance *confirm* the original post.

Imagine someone had used a tobacco advertising agency *against* the tobacco industry…

Show threada fish named dog ✡️♾️Oct 20, 2024
@Strandjunker It's weird that the anti immigration people are also
often against raising the minimum wage. If the immigrants are going to take your job because they'll work for $15 an hour and you need to work for $20 an hour to survive, you could raise the minimum wage to $20 an hour and then you and the lazy but also hardworking immigrant are on equal ground again. But hey who ever let reason get in the way of maga?
Show threadTrump & Epstein: Biz partners.Oct 20, 2024

@FishNamedDog @Strandjunker
Good point. But it would require we prosecute employers for hiring (and underpaying) #undocumented workers.

And the #GOP will never do that. 😞

Show threadSouthern LeftistOct 20, 2024

@Strandjunker

end the issue, capitalism.

a year's gone by, and liberals still cower on economics.

JUST. END. CAPITALISM.

Show threadAriaflameOct 21, 2024
@south_lib @Strandjunker Sounds simple, so it's probably too simple. Methodology needed please.
Show threadBjörn LindströmOct 20, 2024
@Strandjunker side note: Denmark doesn't have a minimum wage, as the unions are strong enough that it's not seen as beneficial by either side.
Show threadAndreas KOct 20, 2024

@bkhl @Strandjunker Don't know about Denmark, but e.g. in Austria, we do have unions, but beside we have the so-called “social partnership”.

Or put bluntly, all employees are part of a mandated workers chamber, which is the default “union-style” collective bargainer, should there be no union for them, and all business are by law members of the business chamber (if there is no collective bargaining association on their side).

Show threadTrump & Epstein: Biz partners.Oct 20, 2024
@Strandjunker
CONFIRMED. A Big Mac is cheaper in #Denmark (in cities of relatively identical size) despite employees being paid seven dollars MORE per hour PLUS BENEFITS (though heath coverage is nationalized.)
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/big-mac-cost-denmark/
Is a Big Mac in Denmark Pricier Than in US?

McDonald's workers in Denmark make about $22 an hour, but how much do they pay for a Big Mac?

Snopes
Show threadTrump & Epstein: Biz partners.Oct 20, 2024

@Strandjunker
I've posted things that deserve national headlines, but what posts of mine get the most hits?

...posts like this one talking about Big Macs. 🤦‍♂️ 😞

Show threadMr. Lance E Sloan (IRL) 👤Oct 20, 2024
@Strandjunker
Agreed. However, to play #devilsAdvocate…
Aren't the benefits at the Denmark McDonald's provided by the government, NOT the company? Which means the company can afford to be more generous with the pay. The price of the Big Mac there also depends on the prices of resources in that country (beef, bread, etc.).
Show threadPusher of PixelsOct 20, 2024

@sloanlance @Strandjunker

The Danish tax rates are significantly higher

Show threadColin from Edinburgh.Oct 20, 2024
@pixelpusher220 @sloanlance @Strandjunker
True, and they actually get something for the taxes they pay, unlike US citizens, who get next to nothing.
Show threadBrassica-boy now in #F9CBD3Oct 21, 2024
@pixelpusher220 @sloanlance @Strandjunker
Those 7-ish percent of higher tax on labour are easilly worth 6 weeks paid vacation and parental leave alone.
https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/global/tax-burden-on-labor-oecd-2024/
A Comparison of the Tax Burden on Labor in the OECD, 2024

Governments often justify higher tax burdens with more extensive public services. However, the cost of these services can be more than half of an average worker’s salary.

Tax Foundation
Show threadMatt PalmerJan 5, 2025
@sloanlance McDs in the US isn't providing health insurance, either.
Show threaddagi3dJan 5, 2025
@sloanlance @Strandjunker Companies also pay additional taxes for each salary/employee to partially cover some of those benefits(which also might include unemployment benefits)
Show threadmatdevdugOct 20, 2024
@Strandjunker Not to take away from the overall message but right now here in Copenhagen they’re $7.14 for a Big Mac.
Show threadNathanLonghairOct 20, 2024
@matdevdug @Strandjunker That looks like it’s from Wolt, not in-restaurant prices - Wolt prices are are marked up. Order it in-restaurant and the price is 39 DKK = 5.68 USD.
Source: McD app prices for Copenhagen city centre McD (Kgs. Nytorv)
Show threadmatdevdugOct 21, 2024
@nathanlonghair @Strandjunker Oh I knew they added a delivery fee but didn’t know they added to the base price.
Show threadNathanLonghairOct 21, 2024
@matdevdug @Strandjunker Yeah I was real surprised when I first noticed that too. It looks like Wolt is double-dipping either out of greed, or to make ends meet. Some restaurants (like McD) then just pass the fee Wolt seem to charge them on to the customer.
Show threadJustin DerrickOct 20, 2024

@Strandjunker The thing that burns me about this is that people believe the B.S. that flipping burgers for $20/hr would make the cost of a burger and fries go up. The costs have been going up for a decade, and minimum wage has been mostly flat across North America for way longer than that -- the difference is nearly 100% profit.

Look at the 5-year McDonalds stock chart:

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/quote/MCD/

Or the 15-year stock price history for Wendy's:
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/quote/WEN/

McDonald's Corporation (MCD) Stock Price, News, Quote & History - Yahoo Finance

Find the latest McDonald's Corporation (MCD) stock quote, history, news and other vital information to help you with your stock trading and investing.

Show threadFelipe Oct 20, 2024
@Strandjunker
Argentina:
Big mac $3
Employee: $2/hr, 6 day workweek
Show threadKevin LeecasterOct 20, 2024
@Strandjunker
I wonder what the income of McDonald's franchise owners compare in countries with different minimum wages?
Show thread66gardenersOct 23, 2024

@GreenFire @Strandjunker
Minimum wage could determine whether you are successful.

McDonald's is not on the menu if you are destitute.

Show threadbrumkaOct 20, 2024
@Strandjunker effective tax rate in Denmark: 35%..42% whereas the effective tax rate in the US is ~18%
Show threadMarjorieROct 21, 2024

@brumka @Strandjunker worth pointing out that the price of that Big Mac in Denmark will include that 25% VAT. They may have adjusted for it here but usually US prices come before tax.

Also it was never customary in Denmark to have to give serving staff in restaurants a tip or apply a service change. But maybe you don't in US Mcdonalds either?

Show threadJonathanOct 20, 2024
@Strandjunker we should eat billionaires
Show threadRichard W. Woodley ELBOWS UP 🇨🇦🌹🚴‍♂️📷 🗺️Oct 20, 2024

@Strandjunker

Would be interesting to see the salaries of McDonalds American executives compared to European executives.

Show threadColin from Edinburgh.Oct 20, 2024

@Strandjunker
It's a consequence of the US Debt-Based Coolie Economy.

The strategy that keeps the US economy afloat and the topic that no US politician would ever approach.

https://medium.com/@colingajewski/americas-coolie-economy-feaf95b0303c

America's Coolie Economy.

The concept of a "Debt-Based Coolie Economy" refers to a systemic and intentional design within the U.S. economy that relies heavily on…

Medium
Show threaddoomy 🦀Oct 21, 2024
@photoncollector @Strandjunker american capitalism works just fine, great even. resource hoarding and wage theft are a feature of this system, not a bug, and it's not some variant degenerate version of capitalism that is to blame. Capitalism is just very good at making money and very bad at keeping people from dying unnecessarily.
Show threadColin from Edinburgh.Oct 21, 2024
@doomy @Strandjunker
There is a lack of clarity in the guidelines for who needs to die.
Show threadbiggestsonicfanOct 21, 2024
@Strandjunker California is actually getting hit damn hard over it. It worked, in theory, but capitalism swung back harder.
Show threadwilliam.maggosOct 21, 2024

@Strandjunker

so I assume there's just less profits. until more Americans stop thinking the stock market is the economy and that we're supposed to be trying to build our retirement off investments, we're never going to have an economy that works for most of us.

Show threadLisaOct 21, 2024
@Strandjunker For the US, is the ‘no benefits’ for part-time workers? If so, that’s how it is at many places of employment. Just curious.
Show threadvitaut 🤍❤️🤍 🇺🇦Oct 21, 2024
@Strandjunker That’s because it’s metric Big Mac which is 2.54 smaller than imperial.
Show threadAknorals⚑Ⓐ 🏴Oct 21, 2024
@Strandjunker Note: I think the best way to raise worker wages is being organized and dangerous enough to Capital that they're forced to give benefits.
Worker protections from laws can always be taken away, but victories from worker strength are harder to steal.
Show threaddoomy 🦀Oct 21, 2024
@Strandjunker wild what imperialism and crude oil gets you if you decide to share some of the war spoils w/ ur citizens. still morally reprehensible but i regret that the US as always has to be the absolute most morally reprehensible in every contest.
Show threadkorin 🔜 kodiOct 21, 2024
@Strandjunker and that doesn't even get into the quality of the hamburger which is unsurprisingly terrible in the US
Show threadI am Jack's Lost 404Oct 21, 2024
@Strandjunker
Show threadMathias PanzenböckOct 21, 2024
@Strandjunker And they say the meat quality is better in Europe. Don't know if that's true.
Show threadDaniel S.Oct 21, 2024
@Strandjunker
The Big Mac in DK costs 7,13, but still ...
@svenrudloff
Show threadsiklistOct 21, 2024
@Strandjunker
Danish socialist communists! Topic closed.
Show threadCharlotte /Cinny     Oct 21, 2024
@Strandjunker there are also higher food quality standards in denmark
Show threadmephistoOct 21, 2024
@Strandjunker SOCIALIST COMUNIST MARXIST!!11.
Show threadmuxauy 🚴🇪🇺Oct 21, 2024
@Strandjunker but it will, because it will let them justify it as "look at what they made us do"
Show threadOrca 🌻 | 🎀 | 🪁 | 🏴🏳️‍⚧️Oct 21, 2024
@Strandjunker Before they had $15/hr they had a "fight for $15" campaign, and McDonald set up a intel unit to spy on them.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/mcdonalds-secretive-intel-team-spies-on-fight-for-15-workers/
McDonald’s Secretive Intel Team Spies on ‘Fight for $15’ Workers, Internal Documents Show

McDonald’s collects ‘strategic intelligence’ on workers advocating for a $15 minimum wage, including ‘how and where will FF$15 attack the brand.’

VICE
Show threadhaliphax 👾Oct 21, 2024
@Strandjunker Also at McDonald's nobody "works the fries", it's something any of the staff are expected to do in between taking orders, etc... They basically had to carve out a single item on a checklist of duties for him.