There are numerous articles appearing about the fast food workers strikes written from a full range of perspectives. Here is one that raises alarm for the future and that future may not be too far off.
BURGER ROBOT POISED TO DISRUPT FAST FOOD INDUSTRY
The Momentum burger-bot isn’t remotely humanoid. You can forget visions of Futurama’s Bender. It’s more of a burger assembly line. Ingredients are stored in automated containers along the line. Instead of pre-prepared veggies, cheese, and ground beef—the bot chars, slices, dices, and assembles it all fresh
Why would talented engineers schooled at Berkeley, Stanford, UCSB, and USC with experience at Tesla and NASA bother with burger-bots? Robots are increasingly capable of jobs once thought the sole domain of humans—and that’s a huge opportunity.
Burger robots may improve consistency and sanitation, and they can knock out a rush like nobody’s business. Momentum’s robot can make a burger in 10 seconds (360/hr). Fast yes, but also superior quality. Because the restaurant is free to spend its savings on better ingredients, it can make gourmet burgers at fast food prices.
Or at least, that’s the idea.
Momentum Machines says your average fast food joint spends $135,000 a year on burger line cooks. Employees work in a chaotic kitchen environment that necessitates no-slip shoes in addition to the standard hairnets and aprons.
This device has been developed to a level that is practical for commercial food production. It is not yet being massed produced and there doesn't seem to be information available on the installation costs for restaurants. However, there is an obvious mathematical relationship here. The higher labor costs become, the more cost effective it becomes to spend money on automation.
Unions have always been most effective in industries where labor has economic leverage. That made manufacturing industries that needed skilled workers good opportunities for organizing. In the event of a strike replacements couldn't easily be hired off the street. Of course it eventually became possible to move manufacturing operations to low wage countries and manufacturing has been the area where automation has moved the furthest ahead. Thus the sharp decline in manufacturing jobs and the unions associated with them.
Service jobs were supposed to have some immunity from these forces. They generally require hands on face to face contact and can't be performed in China for American customers. However, the rapid advances in robotics are bringing changes to that equation. It is difficult to see how service unions might respond to this challenge. It is also difficult to see how the economy can create new jobs that would absorb service workers displaced by automation.