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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums81-year-old McDonald's worker Jose arrested during peaceful protest in Time Square, NYC
https://twitter.com/LowPayIsNotOK/status/507604305340137472/photo/1
sabbat hunter
(6,825 posts)the protest and the workers getting higher wages, however when you protest and block traffic, etc you run the risk of getting arrested. I think that Jose was well aware of this risk and I think that is a look of proud defiance on his face in this picture.
questionseverything
(9,631 posts)Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances
MADem
(135,425 posts)You are inconveniencing and distressing and preventing other citizens from going about their business.
That said, 81 year old Jose is the Rosa Parks of fast food workers.
They knew what they were doing, and this arrest lets everyone else, across the country, know what they are doing too.
You think anyone would have covered a picketing of a Mickey D's in NYC without any arrests?
questionseverything
(9,631 posts)i can not find that exception either
MADem
(135,425 posts)against "loitering."
The difference between this action and Ferguson is as follows--those Mickey Dee's people blocked access because they WANTED to be arrested. See what happened? No one would know who the hell 81 year old Jose was if he stood on the picket line with a sign. No one would see him, and if they picked him out of a picture of a larger group of demonstrators, they wouldn't peg him for an octogenarian.
Now his face is seen round the world. His name and age--and where he works to make ends meet--are known to all. That was the point and the purpose of his civil disobedience.
In Ferguson, the community just wanted to protest a blatant, immediate and specific injustice--the murder of a teen by a police on their streets. They weren't interested in civil disobedience. They wanted to make it clear that they felt that police overreach had come to a crisis point. The police used selective enforcement of local laws to break up the demonstrations, and they also used violence.
The two incidents aren't the same at all, not in purpose, and not in execution. They both had a "fight the power" theme, but that's as far as the similarity goes.
questionseverything
(9,631 posts)wouldn't blocking sidewalk traffic disturb the peace too?
so no freedom to assemble on the sidewalk,not on the street,certainly not on private property without owners permission,not on public property without a permit
so exactly where can American citizens freely assemble?
MADem
(135,425 posts)Standing on the sidewalk behind an organized picket isn't the same as blocking it, so your inference fails.
People are not permitted to stand in the streets. They will get ticketed for even jaywalking, for goodness' sake. If you're in the street, you'd better be crossing at a crosswalk or you're in violation of the law.
cheapdate
(3,811 posts)The right to peaceably assemble doesn't allow protestors to gather anywhere, anytime, without any limitations whatsoever.
The Bill of Rights imposes (or is supposed to) a very high burden on the government for restricting covered activities. But there are and always will be reasonable limits. These freedoms are not absolute and they have never been understood that way.
The arguments over where the limits should be have been occurring for over 200 years and will always continue.
You can't block the streets -- not without being subject to arrest.
That said, I support street protests, these protestors, and their goals 100%.
sabbat hunter
(6,825 posts)you cannot violate others rights while exercising yours.
MADem
(135,425 posts)Who would have given a shit otherwise?
The visual of an older dude, shoulders back, dignified, in handcuffs is powerful.
It's more powerful when you learn how OLD the guy is.
xmas74
(29,658 posts)It's incredible to think about.
MADem
(135,425 posts)xmas74
(29,658 posts)you chooses specific people for the front line to purposely be arrested. You want sympathetic people with clean records so their stories will capture the attention of the media. His story and his picture did just that.
It's a great picture and a great backstory.
SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)smh
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)He's a worker who thinks he has a right to a livable wage.
SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)orpupilofnature57
(15,472 posts)Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)Thoreau, King, Gandhi and Mandela were all proponents.
Now we include Jose!
MADem
(135,425 posts)Deadbeat Republicans
(111 posts)marions ghost
(19,841 posts)and all the protestors.
garf
(14 posts).I don't understand. It was unions who got this law passed in the first place. Why are union workshops exempt from it?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-no-calamity-yet-as-seatac-wash-adjusts-to-15-minimum-wage/2014/09/05/d12ba922-3503-11e4-9e92-0899b306bbea_story.html
"Those who opposed the $15 wage in SeaTac and Seattle admit there has been no calamity so far. Paul Guppy, vice president for research at the free-market Washington Policy Center, said SeaTac is a boutique case because of its size. Airport workers have been left out for now because of a lawsuit, and union workplaces are exempt, so only about 1,600 got raises."
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)Generally speaking, when you post a comment under another one, it should bear some actual relation to the comment under which you posted. If you wanted to talk about your own subject, you need to post enough actual replies to other people first, and then you'll be given the ability to post your own 'top level' comments.
As to your question, no idea, but I'd guess that most unionized places already pay better. If they didn't, all of those union workers would be quitting to go work at the places that now pay $15/hr.
(Edit: Yes, I do see the $15/hr part, btw. I just don't feel SeaTac has much relation to McDonald's workers in NYC.)
rbrnmw
(7,160 posts)littlemissmartypants
(22,417 posts)Kicking. Thank you.
Laffy Kat
(16,354 posts)Yours in solidarity.