http://onforb.es/...
As covered—and criticized—in this column in great detail, Mr. Schnatter decided to mix his politics with his pepperoni when suggesting that he would be cutting the work hours for Papa John employees in order to bring them below the 30 hour per week threshold that would require Schnatter to provide his employees with healthcare benefits.
That's some friendly framing from Forbes, for sure, eh? Here's my take:
CEOs Threaten to Screw Workers Out of Healthcare
Several CEOs went and popped off not too long ago about how they were going to have to screw their workers to protect their business interests if the ACA stays in place.
Papa Johns' CEO, in particular, threatened to reduce his worker's hours to 30 and under to escape the responsibility of providing healthcare assistance. What was at stake? $0.14 per pizza.
It was a pretty crass move that really is not going to fly today with the massive gap between corporate & the super wealthy vs the rest of us, and the increasingly volatile "grow or die" economy.
Catch me on the flip for more...
So the CEO of Papa Johns threatens to eliminate healthcare for his workers, drivers & cashiers earning, on average, less than $15K per year, with GMs averaging less than $40K... in order to save a whopping $0.14 per pizza.
Hubris? The $600,000,000 man sticking it to the working class people who make his money for him? I thought we were supposed to eat cake or something?
When I heard about this, the first thing I thought was,"Wow. Umm... CEOs ought to just keep their mouths shut about economic hardball like this. Talk about hubris..."
I think it's a valid and interesting thought, I'm sure many of you had it.
But then I got thinking about it a bit more, that $0.14 per pizza. Sure it's a lot for the company at the end of the year. Rough math says it's $2.38M. That's a lot of cheddar. Until you realize that Papa Johns has a $1.22B market cap - That healthcare cost he wants to escape? It's .002% of revenue if my math is right.
Are you kidding me? What a scumbag! Again, that's where I went, but then it hit me.
You Want a Side of Healthcare with That?
Even if my math isn't right, or there's better metrics for it, that's not really the point that you should focus on here.
You need to focus on the person who takes your order on the phone ,"You want a side of healthcare with that?" Just like they ask about an extra topping or marinara and garlic sauce, "It's only $0.14."
"Yes please! I'll take 2!" Right?
I mean, how much is double cheese? Each topping is a buck, tip the delivery guy a few bones... a $0.14 add on to a $10-15 pizza is a bargain for good healthcare - a bargain.
For people like us to pay the extra costs associated with the ACA (and I am hardly fan of the scheme), to pay that .002% of the ACA cost at the point of sale, is a total no brainer. Why is it so hard for us as a nation to go there; to go to the place where we realistically spread the burden of healthcare, as a nation, and provide it to all of our citizens?