{"id":492,"date":"2014-05-16T09:27:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-16T09:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/how-not-to-conduct-a-persuasive-protest.html"},"modified":"2014-05-16T09:27:00","modified_gmt":"2014-05-16T09:27:00","slug":"how-not-to-conduct-a-persuasive-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/05\/how-not-to-conduct-a-persuasive-protest.html","title":{"rendered":"How NOT to conduct a persuasive protest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Rain poncho-clad demonstrators demanding $15-an-hour pay circled the McDonald\u2019s with signs and chanted in Spanish, \u201cWhat do we want? $15! When do we want it? Now!\u201d and \u201cMcDonald\u2019s, we are here.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So reports a Tribune article <\/a>on a multi-city (with \u201cdozens\u201d of protesters in Chicago) protest for $15 pay for fast-food workers. <\/p>\n

Now, the protest was sponsored by, and funded by, the SIEU (the \u201cfunding\u201d part is unclear, but the Tribune specifically uses the word \u201cbankrolled\u201d \u2014 I know that in some cases, they actually pay the protesters, though it\u2019s not clear whether that happened here, or whether they just provided the ponchos and signs), and the article continues on to talk about desires for unionization and the impracticality of unionizing franchise workers when, depending on the size of the franchisee, there may be only comparatively small numbers of workers in each individual company. \u00a0Accordingly, the union for now is trying to push the \u201cwage theft\u201d angle, and cites a survey with 92% of workers claiming wage theft, including lost breaks during busy periods (the article, of course, doesn\u2019t question the validity of the survey) \u2014 and, I\u2019ll have to admit, to the extent that employers are cheating their workers, I\u2019m happy to have them prosecuted and fined, but if the union uses this to \u201cblackmail\u201d them into forming unions (or if the government uses this as a bargaining chip), not so much. <\/p>\n

But, Spanish? <\/p>\n

This happens repeatedly. \u00a0Illegal immigrants\u2019 rallies have included signs and chants in Spanish for years, which I find to be an absurd tactic. \u00a0Who are they trying to persuade? \u00a0\u201cWe want to be Americans \u2014 but we know so little English that we can\u2019t even hold up an English sign\u201d \u2014 really? \u00a0And now fast-food workers? \u00a0\u201cWe want a near-doubling of our pay, but we don\u2019t speak English\u201d \u2014 why would they do this? \u00a0How hard is it to chant in English?<\/p>\n

Besides which, in Chicago at least, aren\u2019t they losing a fair percentage of their allies in their minimum wage fight if they alienate the English-speaking minimum wage workers?<\/p>\n

Who, in the end, is their audience?<\/p>\n

In third-world countries, they often protest with English signs, when their audience is an international one, either wanting the Developed World to come to their aid, or venting their anger against the West (say, for Koran-burning reports).<\/p>\n

Or are these protests actually aimed at an audience? \u00a0What is their goal? \u00a0Are they speaking to the politicians, or the ordinary American passerby, or just to themselves?<\/p>\n

(Also \u2014 turns out I had observed this\u00a0back in the fall<\/a>, too. \u00a0So I\u2019m being repetitive here, but it still troubles me.)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rain poncho-clad demonstrators demanding $15-an-hour pay circled the McDonald\u2019s with signs and chanted in Spanish, \u201cWhat do we want? $15! When do we want it? Now!\u201d and \u201cMcDonald\u2019s, we are here.\u201d So reports a Tribune article on a multi-city (with \u201cdozens\u201d of protesters in Chicago) protest for $15 pay for fast-food workers. Now, the protest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHow NOT to conduct a persuasive protest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rain poncho-clad demonstrators demanding $15-an-hour pay circled the McDonald's with signs and chanted in Spanish, "What do we want? $15! 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