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Dear Striking Fast-Food Workers: Meet The Machine That Just Put You Out Of A Job
Zero Hedge ^
| 11/10/2015
| Tyler Durden
Posted on 11/10/2015 9:05:33 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Today, U.S. fast-food workers will strike across 270 cities in a protest for higher wages and union rights that they hope will catch the attention of candidates in 2016 elections, organizers said.
The walkouts will be followed by protests in 500 cities by low-wage workers in such sectors as fast food and home and child care, a statement by organizers of the Fight for $15 campaign said on Monday.
The protests and strikes are aimed at gaining candidatesâ support heading into the 2016 election for a minimum wage of $15 an hour and union rights, it said.
The strikes and protests will include workers from McDonaldâs, Wendyâs, Burger King , KFC and other restaurants, the statement said.
And while we sympathize with their demands for higher wages, here is the simple reason why they will be very much futile.
Dear fast food workers of the US - presenting you nemesis: the Momentum Machines burger maker.
According to a recent BofA reported on how robotics will reshape the world, San Francisco start up Momentum Machines are out to fully automate the production of burgers with the aim of replacing a human fast food worker. The machine can shape burgers from ground meat, grill them to order with the specified amount of char, toast buns, add tomatoes, onions, pickles, and finally place it on a conveyor belt.
The robot is shown below. It occupies 24 square feet, and is much smaller and efficient than most assembly-line fast-food operations. It provides "gourmet cooking methods never before used in a fast food restaurant" and will deposit the completed burger into a bag. It does all of this without a trace of attitude.
According to public data, the company's robot can "slice toppings like tomatoes and pickles immediately before it places the slice onto your burger, giving you the freshest burger possible." Unlike human workers, the robot is "more consistent, more sanitary, and can produce ~360 hamburgers per hour" or a burger every 10 seconds.
Furthermore, future generations of the device "will offer custom meat grinds for every single customer. Want a patty with 1/3 pork and 2/3 bison ground to order? No problem."
As the company's website adds, "our various technologies can produce an ever-growing list of common choices like salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, and many other multi-ingredient foods with a gourmet focus."
But most importantly, it has no wage demands: once one is purchashed it will work with 100% efficiency for years. And it never goes on strike.
As the company's co-founder Alexandros Vardakostas told Xconomy his "device isnât meant to make employees more efficient. Itâs meant to completely obviate them."
The company's philosophy on making millions of fast food workers obsolete:
The issue of machines and job displacement has been around for centuries and economists generally accept that technology like ours actually causes an increase in employment.
The three factors that contribute to this are
- the company that makes the robots must hire new employees,
- the restaurant that uses our robots can expand their frontiers of production which requires hiring more people, and
- the general public saves money on the reduced cost of our burgers. This saved money can then be spent on the rest of the economy.
This is a major problem for the US economy, which once built on a manufacturing backbone, has seen the fastest jobs growth in recent years for workers employed by "food service and drinking places" i.e., fast food workers, waiters and bartenders.
Finally, for those complaining that there will be no "human touch" left to take the orders, robots have that covered too:
And now it's time to calculate how many tens if not hundreds of billions in additional welfare spending these soon to be unemployed millions in low-skilled workers will cost US taxpayers.
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Society
KEYWORDS: fastfood; jobs; machine; robots
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To: Leaning Right
Great point...then all of the fast food joints in Cali will simply pack up and open a new store in rural areas that normally would not have one because the customer base is too low. Rednecks win again!
21
posted on
11/10/2015 9:29:14 AM PST
by
gr8eman
(Don't waste your energy trying to understand commies. Use it to defeat them!)
To: SeekAndFind
Better wash the hands after ordering from the kiosks and before eating the food. Then again kiosks dont have to take a dump in the restrooms either.
22
posted on
11/10/2015 9:30:30 AM PST
by
tflabo
(Psalm 1)
To: gorush
Gonna be a LOT more collich grajiates living in Mom & Dad’s basement...for a LOT longer.
23
posted on
11/10/2015 9:31:11 AM PST
by
moovova
To: SeekAndFind
I really like the people from whom I buy tacos or burgers everyday. I know that most of them really like their jobs and they know this $15.00 is crap. Some of them are worth $15/hr and get it but they knowingly stand next to people who never will.
24
posted on
11/10/2015 9:33:37 AM PST
by
DungeonMaster
(Democrats have covens, not conventions.)
To: tflabo
“Then again kiosks dont have to take a dump in the restrooms either.”
Or, huff back into work, smelling like an ashtray, after a smoke break outside the back door.
25
posted on
11/10/2015 9:34:30 AM PST
by
moovova
To: factoryrat
Stunning analysis, comrade.
Death to the capitalist imperialists and their running dog lackeys!
To: Leaning Right
I remember when self-service gas stations first started appearing in my area. Some politicians tried to ban them on the grounds that they were unsafe.
- - - -
Still is illegal in Oregon and New Jersey. Amazed that they expect their population to be less capable than other states.
http://fortune.com/2015/05/18/new-jersey-gas-pump/
27
posted on
11/10/2015 9:40:36 AM PST
by
thackney
(life is fragile, handle with prayer)
To: gr8eman
While in France saw these at McDonald’s. They were very quick and efficient.
28
posted on
11/10/2015 9:40:39 AM PST
by
DocJ69
To: SeekAndFind
The Obama/Clintoon, Sanders voters, aka fast food workers are on strike around the country this morning for the $15/hour wage.
In the meantime, machines like this are being built and getting ready to replace the strikers.
Each fast food outlet will have Android and I Phone apps allowing customers to order their food and then pay for them with their smart phones. There will be no need for cashiers.
The store managers will hire a professional cleaning service to keep their stores clean.
The companies providing these machines will provide in store workers to keep them clean and working.
Amazon will provide pickup and delivery to your home or office, eliminating the need to even go in the food place.
You will be able to place and charge your order on your Amazon Prime Card.
29
posted on
11/10/2015 9:41:58 AM PST
by
Grampa Dave
("If you use FR and don't donate. That means that you are a Left Wing or Rino plant, to be ignored!)
To: SeekAndFind
Soylent Green is People!!!!
30
posted on
11/10/2015 9:49:20 AM PST
by
isthisnickcool
(Say what you will about The Donald, but he has all the right enemies.)
To: gorush
The guy who wrote the sign is correct, though. They don't sell Frise Burgers.
31
posted on
11/10/2015 9:52:27 AM PST
by
ProtectOurFreedom
(For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not, no explanation is possible)
To: wideawake
Death to capitalism?
My scenario is capitalism in its purest form.
Maximum profit, lowest input cost, and full control of the supply chain.
And don’t forget that you get to socialize and subsidize the costs, and privatize and maximize the profits!
It’s like making money for free! And burying the competition.
As a matter of fact, we have a perfect model to utilize. It’s called “General Motors”, and everything that I described above, is what they have done since at least the early 1980’s.
They are the model of the new world economy.
32
posted on
11/10/2015 9:54:02 AM PST
by
factoryrat
(We are the producers, the creators. Grow it, mine it, build it.)
To: SeekAndFind
When I was a kid, growing up in Ventnor, N.J., on rare occasions I would need to call the operator for a number or assistance as my dad had a side business of repairing TV’s and radios. The operators were trained to be be very courteous, quick and efficient - always very professional. A few years later I was in the Coast Guard and was stationed at Governor’s Island, N.Y. for electronics school. I needed to dial the operator for a number I was trying to find (new girl friend). The difference was stunning! The operator was having a causal conversation with her colleagues that, to her, was way more interesting than the conversation she was supposed to be having with me - and forget being quick.
It’s the same idea for the fast food industry today. It’s too bad as some workers are very nice and the experience is very satisfying - but it’s becoming all too common place to have the opposite, “I’m here for my convenience, not yours.”
There is a greater reality in life that eventually takes over if you do not adjust your life to it instead of expecting it to adjust to you. The more libs try to equal outcomes and make life “fair” the worse those two things (and many others) will become for the people they are supposedly trying to help.
To: SeekAndFind
"Try our new Extra *BIG-ASS TACO*....now with more *MOLECULES*"
34
posted on
11/10/2015 10:01:32 AM PST
by
dfwgator
To: Snickering Hound
That’s not true is it? Doesn’t every one in the army make more than minimum wage?
A lot don’t make $15 an hour. And it would be wrong to pay burger flippers that much and not pay our military more than that.
35
posted on
11/10/2015 10:05:54 AM PST
by
DannyTN
To: SeekAndFind
Work on replacing ILLEGALS...
36
posted on
11/10/2015 10:06:54 AM PST
by
Captainpaintball
(Immigration without assimilation is the death of a nation -- FUJB!!!)
Comment #37 Removed by Moderator
To: Leaning Right
I believe self serve gas is still illegal in Oregon.
38
posted on
11/10/2015 10:14:06 AM PST
by
cuban leaf
(The US will not survive the obama presidency. The world may not either.)
To: Moltke
Translation please Use the human employees to make the menu items we can't (yet ;-) )
To: SeekAndFind
Just imagine the number of illegals you can replace with these machines.
Beautiful.
Robotic farm machinery is the next step, robots that can apply a gentle touch and a discerning eye. No more ladders, pick 7x24.
40
posted on
11/10/2015 10:26:08 AM PST
by
Mariner
(War Criminal #18 - Be The Leaderless Resistance)
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