General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSubway ends most $5 footlongs in San Francisco to protest minimum wage
Source: SF Weekly
It seems you can have the nation's highest minimum wage and a $5 footlong -- but you can't have them both.
San Francisco Subway patrons hoping to gorge themselves on too much of a mediocre sandwich are being greeted by signs like the one above noting that "due to higher cost of doing business in San Francisco" obtaining a $5 footlong will require a trip over a bridge, through a tunnel, or onto the Peninsula.
Unless you like tuna -- that's the $5 footlong of the month, and that's all you can get in this city for five measly dollars.
Calls to Subway's corporate headquarters have not yet been returned. But half a dozen San Francisco Subway workers said this recent move was explained to them as a reaction to San Francisco's minimum wage ordinance. Per the will of the voters, minimum wage is calculated each year based on the "August-to-August change in the Consumer Price Index." On Jan. 1 of this year, it jumped from $9.92 to $10.24, apparently pushing Subway execs to revoke our county's cheap sandwich privileges. As the minimum wage rises higher, perhaps Subway will be forced to scrap Jared Fogle for parts.
Read more: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2012/03/subway_5_footlong_san_francisc.php
Ian David
(69,059 posts)And Subway's was on my list of "Blue" companies that donates to Democrats.
Duer 157099
(17,742 posts)When business drops off, maybe they'll considering increasing their quality.
EOTE
(13,409 posts)We can't pretend as if having a higher minimum wage doesn't effect businesses.
A higher wage along with higher prices seems reasonable to me. There's a reason that stuff from China is so cheap. People tend to pay the increased price for domestic goods because of the increased quality and knowing that their dollars are staying in their own country.
Broderick
(4,578 posts)You don't get rich owning a subway.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)They are without a doubt the stingiest restaurant I know of.
that's how I feel too. I love veggies so I'm fine with that but my friends who like the deli meat get a few thin slices and can barely taste it.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)You can count the flakes!
donheld
(21,311 posts)On a six inch most will give you 3 slices of jalapenos, 3 slices of banana peppers etc. Even with napkins.
msongs
(67,433 posts)LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)I imagine that perceiving merely one extreme or another, and either dismissing or denying the existence of the vast degrees of difference in between is one very dramatic example of an intractable dogma.
sudopod
(5,019 posts)geardaddy
(24,931 posts)JonLP24
(29,322 posts)as do consumers if they decide they would rather not spend that much for sandwich.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)their employees a fair wage and this is the only way to do it. People would respect that, now they've made themselves look like they don't care about their workers.
Edited to say, maybe they are raising the price. And that would fine, but the way the article reads it sounded like they were not going to make it anymore.
phantom power
(25,966 posts)The whole race-to-the-bottom trend of low prices supported by unsustainable wages has been a bad thing for America. Support real minimum wages, and prices that support those!
Snake Alchemist
(3,318 posts)mmonk
(52,589 posts)NoGOPZone
(2,971 posts)If they want to get away from that, be my guest.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)It should only take a few days for the regional managers to get the point
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)I love living in a city that can engender so much vitriol over a decent minimum wage.
Gold Metal Flake
(13,805 posts)That was easy. I'll pay more for a better sandwich at a place that is not a chain. Like Salerno's in Burbank. I can brown bag it more other days.
leftyohiolib
(5,917 posts)it was quietly switch from ALL foot longs to the featured sandwich of the month. then again i dont goto subway that much but the last time i did i noticed a sign in the store that said that only the featured sub was $5. so maybe they were going to do that anyway but decided to be an ass about it
qb
(5,924 posts)I support a LIVING minimum wage, and Subway is now on my shit list.
Broderick
(4,578 posts)They are paying higher wages, and other franchises in other parts of the country are paying almost half the wages and people still expect them to sell at what they do in those other cities. You don't get rich with a subway franchise and many times it is family owned and operated.
NuttyFluffers
(6,811 posts)the world needs another subway chain like it needs more cigarette butts littering the sidewalk -- or cheap pizza chain with 'stuff' that tastes like cardboard w/ tomato paste. how about something tasty for a change? i know i and others would pay for that.
Broderick
(4,578 posts)of restaurant startups fail in the first year or two. Your best bet to survive is through a franchise.
So many people try and so many lose everything when they fail.
That is what I find despicable about people that think owning a business is so easy. And if it was, why doesn't everyone have one. Gee, just open up another one and "I will eat there". Sickening how clueless people can be.
LynneSin
(95,337 posts)I've think I've eaten at Subway once in my lifetime.
customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)It's one of the best choices around for a decent sandwich. Thank goodness I moved to a place where plenty of places know how to make a real sandwich.
sudopod
(5,019 posts)But making a political stand against having to pay a decent wage? They can go eat a bag of dicks.
geardaddy
(24,931 posts)see my post below.
alp227
(32,047 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)That's clearly the owners whining about having to pay people. Let 'em go out of business and whine at some right winger site about how they got robbed of their business (when they put themselves out of business for not having a sustainable business that could employ people at proper wages).
If you can't do business within the law, the law isn't the problem - you are either just a horrible business person, in the wrong business, or both.
Free market.
geardaddy
(24,931 posts)If it came from the top, whoever came up with the signs idea should be fired. Why not say something like: "In order to provide our workers with a living minimum wage, we feel it necessary to stop the $5 footlong special."
BoWanZi
(558 posts)Your sign would imply that Subway supports a living wage and I strongly doubt the corporation as a whole supports that.
I really don't see the big deal myself. Of course stuff will get more expensive as minimum wage gets higher, its just logic. Eventually over time, the 10 dollars an hour will be equal to when I made 3.37 an hour back in the mid '80s. Everything will go up in price and the living wage will no longer be a living wage but poverty level.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)Everyone else IS in poverty. Wake up and smell the coffee...that state already exists for many Americans - poverty.
Snake Alchemist
(3,318 posts)geardaddy
(24,931 posts)It's not about the cost of the sandwiches. It's about the douchebag management telling people they should go get a sandwich where workers aren't paid as well.
Snake Alchemist
(3,318 posts)to think that you can get Chinese import prices while paying a living wage.
geardaddy
(24,931 posts)provis99
(13,062 posts)Enrique
(27,461 posts)just raise the prices if you have to, don't pout about it.
geardaddy
(24,931 posts)The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)You got to pay more for it but felt like you were getting a bargin. Club subs were 4.75 iirc.
Reminds me of the old comic books where they raised the price to 35 cents and had a big balloon proclaiming "Still only 35 cents!" when last month it was 30 cents...
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)so the sandwiches are more expensive in SF than elsewhere. Seems reasonable to me; I don't really understand the vitriol against Subway in this thread.
Rather than boycotting Subway, when you buy a $5 footlong elsewhere in the country, throw a dollar into the ubiquitous tip jar. That will help equalize things and directly benefit the workers.
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)But I do have the power to put money in the tip jar.
mulsh
(2,959 posts)When I worked over there I never thought of going to a Subway. I'm still over there a couple of times a week and never think about going to any chain "restaurant". There are way too many locally owned and operated places in the bay area. Less expensive and usually way better food.
ithinkmyliverhurts
(1,928 posts)Thing of beauty, isn't it? We'll let the prols. hate one another and go after one another so that we can make a buck. So for the person who counts on a $5 sandwich, well, his labor value has just been decreased because his fellow worker has gotten more money for his labor value. All along, the surplus labor value on both individuals continues to increase because the labor needed to make bread, shitty meat, etc. has gone down and has been machinized. Some day, once we run out of third world cheap labor, there will be a revolution and we'll stop eating the shit they serve us.
The idea that they "lose" money by keeping the sandwich at $5 is ridiculous. They lose surplus labor, and that's it, which the corporation claims ownership of, and therefore claims a "loss," because they could make more with their commodity (labor).
Response to ithinkmyliverhurts (Reply #35)
Post removed
ithinkmyliverhurts
(1,928 posts)and slavery which drove the machine. Guess we should accept that too? How about when Natives are on our land? We just removed them. I guess I should pull my head out of my 18-year-old ass and accept that. Hey wait, how about, wait, how about we not let women vote on any of these issues?
I get your overall point, but it's really a silly way to frame your argument--you know, appealing to the country's founding and all. Yes, it was capitalist, brutally so. You should probably revise.
One thing college has taught me: arguments consist of more than making assertions and insulting one's interlocutor. So, yeah, i guess I should grow up.
alp227
(32,047 posts)yet somehow "capitalism" finds the way in the brains of those who insist on original intent.
JonLP24
(29,322 posts)Often times a company will claim they have rising costs somewhere and therefore need to raise the price to cover that. It is spin w/ truth to it. They want to keep as many consumers as they already have that would be impacted by the hike so they say that. They won't say, "We're raising the price because we can." The best way to deal with a rising cost is to go with the route that makes the most money, raising the price and losing a lot of customers can result in less revenue instead of just selling things at the same price. Typically prices are raised when the demand increases so they can make more money with the price hike.
This seems completely different as I doubt there is an unusual increase in demand for those sandwiches if it isn't being raised nationally. I actually believe they're being truthful with this statement as relayed to the workers, the "higher cost of doing business" is for the customers. If this is coming from national headquarters I don't doubt they have economics who could foresee the impact such as losing so many customers the difference becomes a loss. I'm still thinking about this but it is important to point out raising the price isn't always the best decision with rising costs, especially with a fixed cost like an employee's wage.
NoGOPZone
(2,971 posts)Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)they will. It's their decision. No one needs to eat a footlonger, anyway. Even if it's a healthy sammich.
Jimmy John's better anyway.
salin
(48,955 posts)as in the folks creating the sandwich, and customers. Dumb move.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)44 of 36,501 stores are in San Francisco.
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)Justice wanted
(2,657 posts)What jerks. Hubby and I are boycotting.
NuttyFluffers
(6,811 posts)never really liked their food. reeked of mediocre pablum. only thing they had going was a cheap sub, and hell, supermarkets have those after 6~7pm.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)I understand they have the right to a profit. So, declare the $5 deal the "loss leader" and quietly increase the other prices to compensate. Yea, the increased prices on everything else sucks, but at least it's not bad PR and they make people happy with the loss leader.
Whoever authorized this sign: a) was making a point about the SF minimum wage; b) is all about earnings per share; c) clueless about public perceptions; d) has never heard of the "loss leader" concept; or e) perhaps all of the above.
A truly dumb move.
eta: Definition of Loss Leader Strategy
Quantess
(27,630 posts)You can stand in line for mexican food for that same $5 in SF county
YellowRubberDuckie
(19,736 posts)Jimmy John's is better anyway. Plus, they deliver.
Snake Alchemist
(3,318 posts)If you find one or a dozen others, go there.
SOS
(7,048 posts)Since the sandwiches have almost nothing in them, their labor costs would drop to Chinese levels.