Flier: reproduced for accessibility
Facts:
Front side:
Seattle is Getting a Raise!
Steps to 15$ min wage April 1
National Day of Action for 15% Wednesday April 15 4:30PM Rally @ Seattle University
Support badges: Office of Kshama Sawant, SEIU 775, Working Washinton, 15 Now, Casa Latina, Unite Here Local 8, Local 1448 Dignity Respect, EBEW, Local 809 IUOE, IBOTeamsters
Back Side:
11$ for employers 500+ and <500 without healthcare/tips
10$ for <500 with healthcare or tips
Wage theft or questions report to: Working WA hotline: 866.385.9509
Next Steps: Min Wage rise to 15 for all 1.1.17, 2018,2021 depending on size and healthcare/tips, more at 15now.org
Hip Hip Horray! Seattle’s Getting a Raise!
This is one of the chants yelled in Seattle Yesterday to inform workers about the increase in Seattle’s minimum wage to 10 or 11 dollars an hour depending on the size of the business. Party hats and whistle toys were given to passer-bys and we even had a person who had a birthday so we gave her a party hat. Young, old, middle aged, disabled, oppressed and concerned members of our community and the working class showed up to stand up against wage theft across Seattle and celebrate our success.
Around 100 people marched from Seattle Central College down Broadway to fast food restaurant chains. We past leaflets down the street with a boom box. A bright blue banner in front announced the minimum wage increase. There were balloons everywhere and it definitely got people’s attention. 100s+ of dollars were raised and consciousness about worker’s right was spread around. We tabled for a little bit around SCC and local leaders of SEIU and Socialist Alternatives gave talks about our fight for 15 now through a megaphone. Attendees were composed primarily of Socialist Alternative. The march ended after an hour and the rest of the members returned to the new office to discuss the movement and to prepare for a karaoke fundraising that night.
Appearance
To a passer-by during the march, they would see a long line of workers wearing blue or red t-shirts that said 15 now, high signs that said the same, a black strip of police to the left, and different unions with their banners behind us, a person that was dressed as a bird, balloons everywhere, and everyone wearing party hats. Audibly they would hear the boom box, the speeches, and the Chants that rhymed smoothly.
Reactions
Some businesses were not happy about the march. Particularly at higher end restaurants, managers stood with their arms crossed in front of the businesses because they wanted to control information about the minimum wage increase and didn’t want their workers to get upset. Most businesses let us in and we politely handed fliers to workers to let them know of their rights. I can understand that some businesses just don’t want any interruptions, and what we are doing is partly muckraking, but we were polite about it. There was plenty of honking of support from drivers.
Police
A 1/2 hour in police on bikes came along the left side of us. I am not sure why they were there watching a peaceful protest instead of trying to solve their internal corruption and learn how to use body cams correctly, but perhaps they wanted a piece of the party. I asked a police member if he would like a party hat and he ignored me. This shows how truly robotic these police are. I am glad they chose a sustainable method of transportation versus the Lamborghini that some police districts are getting. I suppose they are getting much more than the minimum wage, but they could have joined under our banner to fight for the rest of us. They carried batons, pepper spray, handcuffs, and I believe I saw some handguns. I am glad there weren’t any conflicts with the police, and I wonder what they reported to their higher-ups, or whether their administration ordered them here or someone reported the incident.
Socialist Branches
There were two other socialist groups that tabled, the Freedom Socialist Party, and I believe the International Socialist Organization both which claimed to be a more radical socialist group. Cuba and women’s rights were emphasised. There was some confusion about the unity of the message when there were different groups sending different messages but everyone was welcome and no one was angry at each other.
Religion
There were also a few Christians that came to the event to remind these groups and I that I am going to eternal hell if I don’t recognize the beauty of Jesus Christ. Socialists don’t believe in gods or hell because they are methods and ideas of oppression of the ruling class but we support religious diversity and freedom of speech so we would just acknowledge them and move on. However, if Jesus did exist, he actually would be considered by some as being socialist because he fought for workers and was a worker himself before he died for his people so I feel like he would like this minimum wage increase, but the Christians said were going to hell even if the minimum wage increases. I appreciate their perseverance, but it’s too bad they didn’t march with us. I had an interesting conversation with one about my belief in the flying spaghetti monster, that there are many gods out there and each one tells the other is going to hell except worshippers of the flying spaghetti monster.
Media
Unfortunately I did not take photos since my battery was low, but I expect many photos will appear on twitter initially, perhaps a video on youtube on Monday, and a official announcement on the Socialist Alternative website. I would like that the media be posted to privacy and free software respecting services like quitter.se as a micro blogging alternative to Twitter and mediagoblin instead of YouTube, or diaspora as a social media alternative to Facebook or Network23/NoBlogs as an alternative to WordPress. WordPress is a special case were it is respecting – but individual blogs would be better suited for network23 with a .com domain that allows you a free blog for activist needs. I only use Mediagoblin and quitter and network23 for my social media needs. Additionally communication regarding this sensitive area would be best served by using a Combination of Redphone/LinPhone, Signal/Textsecure, Chatsecure, IMSI detector, K9Mail w/ APG. More explanation for this tools are below. I am listing links because they are made so well, but I could make videos which explain step by step approaches to safeguarding this information or one on one sessions or talks. I have been involved in this area for the past two years. See my article SURVEILLANCE DEFENSE. Unfortunately using Facebook and Youtube means you are plugged right into NSA/5 eyes/spies/hackers/corporations/ad companies/telemarketer/annoying people’s 24/7 feed. It is almost contradictory to be an activist and use facebook because it destroys your privacy and tells the police your event, the details, who is going, the location so conveniently.Meanwhile those with iPhones are literally zombies according to NSA leaked documents where Steve Jobs is big brother.
Heres a few more arguments why we shouldn’t use facebook by the activist Richard Stallman.
https://stallman.org/facebook.html
https://stallman.org/google.html
https://stallman.org/apple.html
https://stallman.org/twitter.html
Transportation
Some people walked, took the bus, biked, drove cars and carpooled. I was happy to get a ride because the location of SCC is south Seattle which is very far from Lake Forest park. Most people lived in the area however.
WSPTA announced that funding is better but falls short of goals
http://wsptagrassroots.blogspot.com/2015/03/mccleary-funding-better-but-still-falls.html
I have to learn more about the McCleary case and the proposed changes to
exemptions and taxes. This is the first time I heard about the McCleary
case which seems to be a great win for the people but unfortunately is
not getting enough funding.
Of course I strongly support the fund for basic education K-12 and a win
for education is a win for all which provides for the basis for our
modern society..
In Hawaii teachers didn't show up, there were daily fights against each other, and homeschoolers were not supported. I am considering
not continuing with Cascadia and to pursue ftacademy and working at
various farming jobs. As for high school, I went to a moderately competitive one which let many students through the cracks. A lot of what I've learned is from working different jobs, using free educational medium on free software (wikipedia on trisquel).
Preschool and Higher ed is also important too. I believe it was
something like David vs Goliath reported on a story by Malcolm Gladwell
that was arguing that a lower class size doesn't actually mean it would
be a better school. Also it is stunning how much is spent on textbooks
when there are free and open learning materials like FTAcademy.org or
openstax. My school spent a lot of resources on preparing students to go
to higher ed but not providing hardly any information on alternative
pathways.
And in higher ed, we discriminated for using free software, failing
computer classes. I won't be studying cs at Cascadia, because I fought for
free software, but some teachers would not give in. I am considering public
protests if I meet more people and the consciousness is higher about
free software because I WILL NOT go to a school that gets millions of
dollars of Gates money to force microsoft on it's users. It would be
better that students don't have any of this technology at all - we are
turned into spies for the company and many don't even realize this.
Another thing - almost every two weeks a veteran comes to tell people
they will got 30k and get their school paid for by killing the evil
"arabs" ("fighting for the country...right?"). I realize that society
has these problems as well, and I don't know what the best thing to do
is. I hope I can learn to be a better campaigner in the future and to
learn from my mistakes. I hope the college can do the same.
It does seem that Washington has a better educational system than Hawaii
and I am learning more about it. The higher budget funding I'm sure will
be better spent on education in general then some military or police policy.
In one way maybe the schools can be reformed, but sometimes history
shows that a revolution or building a new system may be better.
Sorry if this was a rant or anything, and obviously mine was a personal
story compared to the obvious effect education has to societies. But we
have to be sure this is not mis-education.