Ron Upshaw: I don’t think the guy making my sandwich deserves $11 an hour

As businesses prepare to make the first incremental jump to an eventual $15 minimum wage in Seattle, many continue to question the new requirement both when considering businesses and workers.

David Jones, the owner of two Subway restaurants in Seattle, will be in the first round of businesses required to make a wage jump in April to $11 an hour. While Jones describes his operation as a small business with only 18 employees, they are a franchise, which is seeing the minimum wage increase requirements begin earlier.

Jones tells KIRO Radio’s Ron & Don Show they’re trying to come up with ways to cover the costs. Some business owners might be considering worker cuts, but Jones says that’s not on the table for them.

“My wife and I have been doing this since 1997 and we really believe our employees are our family. So cutting our employees hours to make them part time isn’t an option.”

But some say cuts in hours and jobs at other businesses might not be the only adverse effect for workers. Ron & Don Show host Ron Upshaw thinks the wage increase might actually have a negative impact on workers’ futures.

“I grew up in all of these crappy jobs. I was a bus boy and cleaned carpets and threw newspapers, polished bicycle parts, and all of those jobs made me think I don’t want to do this,” says Ron. “The whole purpose of the low paying job was to say this sucks I don’t like this.”

Having a job you’re not satisfied with is a good motivator to find a better one, Ron says.

“It motivated me. It’s like I’ve got to go back to school. I’ve got to get some more skills.”

Beyond that, Ron says, “I don’t think the guy making my sandwich deserves $11 an hour. I said it. I don’t think you putting a piece of meat on bread and some mayonnaise and a couple of jalapeno peppers – that’s not worth $11.”

Ron has even more concern over the eventual jump to $15.

“I’ve got friends who work at Boeing that start at $15 that have a skilled job that they had to get specialized training for. What that guy is doing at Boeing making $15 an hour is way more difficult than what the guy is doing putting mayonnaise on bread.”

Ron doesn’t want to see people facing poverty, but he says making sandwiches isn’t meant to be a career.

“If your career aspiration is to be a sandwich artist, then I don’t want to endorse that. When I had those jobs, and when you had those jobs, it motivated you to do something else. Just go do it, use that job as motivation.”

“Don’t settle,” says Ron. “Being a fast food worker is not a career. There are jobs and there are careers. Jobs are supposed to suck. Careers are supposed to be rewarding. Chase a career, don’t chase a job.”

While Jones doesn’t necessarily agree with the way the wage increase is being implemented, he says it’s the law and they understand they need to uphold it.

Their plan to cover the additional costs at this point is to raise prices.

“We’re left with the option of finding the right price increase that covers our cost but is not too high,” says Jones.

Jones is scared about the transition. He believes a lot of businesses that don’t handle it properly will close. But at least from where he stands, he’s willing to take a hit in loss of customers due to increasing prices over hurting his workers, at least in terms of cutting their hours and positions.