So I was reading this morning about the "walk out" of fast-food workers in major cities around the country, in protest over $7.25 federal minimum wage. Also read that what they are lobbying for is a pay increase to $15 an hour and the right to form unions without retaliation.

Your thoughts? Mine are mixed--I think that more than doubling the minimum wage is a bit unreasonable; I also think that the fast-food corporations would counter-act that by raising the price of their food items (which is already somewhat high, IMO, considering it's just fast-food) and turn to automation to cut down the number of employees. That, of course, would put those same workers back in the unemployment line. I think it's kind of sad that so many people rely on these types of jobs as their sole support; they should just be entry-level positions for teenagers or part-time for people looking to supplement other income or SS. I understand that it's the only job that some people can find out there, but should you expect to support a family being employed at that level in the fast-food industry?

Anyway, as usual let's keep politics out of the discussion as much as possible, please (hopefully we'll still have something to discuss). And I also know we have members on the boards with strong opinions about unions, pro and con, so please keep it civil. I'm just looking for what everyone else's perspective is on this.