Paramedic Has Epic Response To $15 Minimum Wage For ‘Burger Flippers,’ Facebook Post Goes Viral [Photo]

A Texas paramedic is making headlines all over the country for his epic Facebook response to New York’s ruling to increase fast-food workers’ minimum wage to $15 an hour. He definitely has a statement for all of the “burger flippers” in the world, but his lengthy post isn’t exactly the type of response you may be expecting. According to Opposing Views, Jens Rushing actually defended fast-food workers by confronting those who argue they do not deserve a raise simply because their occupation is categorized as unskilled labor.

On July 23, the Arlington, Texas, paramedic took to Facebook with a lengthy post about the controversial decision to raise the minimum wage. Surprisingly, Rushing revealed that he also makes $15 an hour working a job that requires extensive training and a certification. However, he still feels that both occupations are worthy of the same pay.

The detailed facts he’s presented to support that theory have caused the lengthy post to go viral. In a nutshell, Rushing feels any job that monopolizes a substantial amount of a person’s life should be compensated with a “living wage.” He concluded by applauding fast-food workers who fought for what they felt they deserve.

Here’s the full text from the post.

“Fast food workers in NY just won a $15/hr wage.

I’m a paramedic. My job requires a broad set of skills: interpersonal, medical, and technical skills, as well as the crucial skill of performing under pressure. I often make decisions on my own, in seconds, under chaotic circumstances, that impact people’s health and lives. I make $15/hr.

And these burger flippers think they deserve as much as me?

Good for them.

Look, if any job is going to take up someone’s life, it deserves a living wage. If a job exists and you have to hire someone to do it, they deserve a living wage. End of story. There’s a lot of talk going around my workplace along the lines of, “These guys with no education and no skills think they deserve as much as us? F**k those guys.” And elsewhere on FB: “I’m a licensed electrician, I make $13/hr, f**k these burger flippers.”

And that’s exactly what the bosses want! They want us fighting over who has the bigger pile of crumbs so we don’t realize they made off with almost the whole d**n cake. Why are you angry about fast food workers making two bucks more an hour when your CEO makes four hundred TIMES what you do? It’s in the bosses’ interests to keep your anger directed downward, at the poor people who are just trying to get by, like you, rather than at the rich a**holes who consume almost everything we produce and give next to nothing for it.

My company, as they’re so fond of telling us in boosterist emails, cleared 1.3 billion dollars last year. They expect guys supporting families on 26-27k/year to applaud that. And that’s to say nothing of the techs and janitors and cashiers and bed pushers who make even less than us, but are as absolutely crucial to making a hospital work as the f**king CEO or the neurosurgeons. Can they pay us more? Absolutely. But why would they? No one’s making them.

The workers in NY *made* them. They fought for and won a living wage. So how incredibly petty and counterproductive is it to fuss that their pile of crumbs is bigger than ours? Put that energy elsewhere. Organize. Fight. Win.”

Rushing’s powerful statement has caught the attention of thousands via Facebook. The post has more than 42,000 shares, and many social media users have applauded Rushing for sharing his profound perspective.

According to NPR, the wage increase from $6.25 to $15 an hour will be applied to more than 100 different brands that employ fast-food workers in the state of New York. The wage increase will reportedly be disbursed in increments over the next three years.

[Image(s) via Facebook]