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=**Behind the Counter**=

**Summary of Chapter 3:** In this part of the book, Eric Schlosser examines the workforce that keeps the fast food industry going. This workforce is predominantly made up of teens; Schlosser examines how teens engage the fast food industry. Schlosser questions their working conditions, interference with schoolwork and spending habits of teens. While Schlosser explored the history of attempted unionization in fast-food restaurants, he does not think there is potential for teen’s unionization. Schlosser shows how teens do not think about unions, frequently quit their jobs, and spend their money on wasteful, status-oriented items. These individuals cannot form a solid union. He explores if Americans are willing to spend more money on fast food, which would increase the wages of workers.

This chapter discusses how McDonald’s finds new places to put their franchise and they do not properly train their workers. Since 75% of their workers are young, you would think that they would train them so that they can become valuable members of the company. The only thing McDonald’s value is efficiency and training workers is not at the top of their agenda. Because these workers lack proper training they are easily replaceable. This is not good for the young generation because proper training and work experience at a young age is irreplaceable. This is a prime example of how fast food chains prevent unions. Fast food jobs no longer create transferable skills and it’s almost impossible to move up in the company ranks.

The top ten reasons why employees of Fast Food restaurants quit their jobs: 1.) Below Average Wages with Unreasonable Work Demands 2.) Lack of Autonomy and Respect 3.) No Professional Development Program 4.) No Opportunity for Advancement 5.) Lack of Recognition 6.) Lack of Health Benefits 7.) Health Problems and Job Burnout 8.) No Job Security 9.) Bad Management Behavior 10.) Transportation Expenses
 * Research that supports the book:**

These notes above support the book’s opinion that the fast food industry will never unionize. Because of these reasons, workers will never stay in the fast food industry for a sufficient amount of time. With a fluctuation of different employees and a lack of concern from them, unionization is basically impossible.

* Also if the employees treat this job as a way to get some quick cash then they will obviously not care about the reputation of the franchise. Therefore it will be more likely for them not to follow the rules and regulation that they learned during training. The managers typically show bad character and do not enforce the guidelines according to many workers in the industry.

Even though McDonald's and other fast food chains do not have the best training program, they still follow government regulations. It is understandable that the staff at McDonald's cannot show new employees every possible procedure because the work environment is very hasty. I am currently a cashier at BJ’S Wholesale Club and during my training I found out that first-hand training was more educational then watching videos and taking test. By being force to learn all the procedures in a short period of time, I learned that I was able to absorb the information more rapidly than watching a dull video. As long as there is a trainee to watch over the employees I agree that first-hand experience is a superior learning method.
 * Opposing Viewpoints:**

For my research that opposes the viewpoint of the book i interviewed a current McDonald's employee. Here are the main key points that she mentioned during the interview. - 4 days of intensive training. - You get paid for training. - Training involves two different steps; computer simulation and hands on experience. - The work environment is very sterile. They spend a good amount of time cleaning. - Contrary to popular beliefs the the managers are very caring and enforces the regulations set by the franchise. - Had to complete tests in order to work in the kitchen. - Had to watch videos on proper cooking techniques. - Managers enforce customer service.
 * Research that supports the opposing viewpoint:**

By reading this chapter it is obvious that we should have more legislation on the training procedures in the fast food industry. There should be standardized tests that each employee has to pass before working in the kitchen. These tests should include information about diseases, cleaning procedures, cooking temperatures and signs of fungus or bacteria in the kitchen. Once the employee scored proficient or above on these test then he/she can then start their fist-hand training in the kitchen. Each individual company can decide how they want to handle the training process after the employee completed the proper tests and videos. The government does not have a sufficient amount of officials or monetary value dedicated towards regulating the entire training process. So if we can monitor the most important parts like disease prevention and proper cooking temperature then I think there will be a huge increase of working conditions in the fast food industry.
 * Can we improve public policy related to food regulations?**