{"id":4702,"date":"2015-04-16T08:31:55","date_gmt":"2015-04-16T07:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/?p=4702"},"modified":"2015-04-17T16:30:20","modified_gmt":"2015-04-17T15:30:20","slug":"buddhists-sit-for-15-fighting-for-higher-minimum-wage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2015\/04\/buddhists-sit-for-15-fighting-for-higher-minimum-wage.html","title":{"rendered":"Buddhists: Sit for $15, fighting for higher minimum wage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The Interdependence Project \u2013 Sit For $15: A Meditation Occupation (photo by Ethan Nichtern<\/a>, used with\u00a0permission)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
In major cities across the country today activists rose up (and sat) to protest our countries unfair minimum wages.<\/p>\n
In L.A.<\/a>\u00a01000+ protesters chanted\u00a0\u201cWe want 15\u201d or \u201cS\u00ed se puede<\/em>\u201d as they followed a marching band around a McDonalds. Hundreds more gathered in Berkeley (*photos<\/a>) and across the Bay Area:<\/p>\n*
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>These were part of a nation-wide \u201cFight for 15\u201d campaign seeking higher minimum wages as well as rights to unionize. As the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/posteverything\/wp\/2015\/04\/15\/we-are-spending-153-billion-a-year-to-subsidize-mcdonalds-and-walmarts-low-wage-workers\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Washington Post states<\/a>, \u201c<span style=\"color: #111111;\">T<\/span><span style=\"color: #111111;\">heir success would increase family incomes for tens of millions of adjunct professors, fast-food, home care and child care workers, among other underpaid workers. Raising wages would also generate significant savings to\u00a0<a style=\"color: #2e6d9d;\" href=\"http:\/\/laborcenter.berkeley.edu\/the-high-public-cost-of-low-wages\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">state<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a style=\"color: #2e6d9d;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.americanprogress.org\/issues\/economy\/report\/2014\/03\/05\/85158\/the-effects-of-minimum-wages-on-snap-enrollments-and-expenditures\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">federal\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0governments, and allow them to better target how our tax dollars are used.\u201d Read more about the efforts to raise the minimum wage in the nation\u2019s capital <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/local\/dc-politics\/campaign-to-begin-for-a-15-minimum-wage-in-dc\/2015\/04\/15\/ea0852b2-e357-11e4-b510-962fcfabc310_story.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, in New York City, <a href=\"http:\/\/theidproject.org\/events\/2015\/04\/15\/sit-15-meditation-occupation\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Interdependence Project\u2019s \u201cSit Down, Rise Up\u201d<\/a> initiative joined with the <a href=\"https:\/\/brooklynzen.org\/sit-for-15-a-meditation-occupation-april-15th\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Brooklyn Zen Center<\/a> to bring\u00a0meditators to \u201cSit for $15\u201d at protests around the city.<\/p>\n<p>PIX11 reports on the protests here:<br>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/player.ooyala.com\/iframe.js#ec=F2cnhqdDqpZCHqAhFvCa8Y_UAL5HoVQh&pbid=9ae34776f76145da969becdeb205e6a5\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>For more images of the \u201cSit for $15\u201d see the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/idproject\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">IDP Twitter account<\/a>. A favorite is the retweet from twitter user <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CTZNWELL\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">CTZNWELL<\/a> which includes IDP meditators and Michael Kink, featured in the video above, from the <a href=\"http:\/\/strongforall.org\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Strong Economy for All Coalition<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/83\/2015\/04\/Interdependence-Project-sit-for-15-2.jpg\" rel=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CTZNWELL\/status\/588450992984752130\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4705 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/83\/2015\/04\/Interdependence-Project-sit-for-15-2.jpg\" alt=\"Interdependence Project - sit for 15-2\" width=\"636\" height=\"444\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Buddhists, often criticized for lack of social action, are on the front lines of this struggle.<\/p>\n<p>Have you seen Buddhists at \u201cFight for $15\u201d protests elsewhere? Or at other recent protests? If so, please leave links in the comments below. Thanks!<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, in presidential politics, you-know-who (Hillary Clinton) has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2015\/04\/15\/hillary-clinton-minimum-wage_n_7075258.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">come out in support of the movement for a $15 minimum wage<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>*Correction 4\/17\/15; mention of the Brooklyn Zen Center was omitted from the original post.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In major cities across the country today activists rose up (and sat) to protest our countries unfair minimum wages. In L.A.\u00a01000+ protesters chanted\u00a0\u201cWe want 15\u201d or \u201cS\u00ed se puede\u201d as they followed a marching band around a McDonalds. Hundreds more gathered in Berkeley (photos) and across the Bay Area: These were part of a nation-wide […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":4705,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,9,15],"tags":[519,170],"class_list":["post-4702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activism","category-american-buddhism","category-buddhism","tag-american-buddhism","tag-engaged-buddhism"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Buddhists: Sit for $15, fighting for higher minimum wage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In major cities across the country today activists rose up (and sat) to protest our countries unfair minimum wages. 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