Cohousing-L Mailing List: How can we have a successful national conference and respect the hotel boycott at the same time?

[Susan (susan.mx]

Hello All,

My name is Susan Green. I live in San Francisco and hope to join a cohousing
community sometime soon. My dream would be to create that community here in
San Francisco. I've begun meeting people who share my interest. Since I
joined coho-L I've been looking for communication about the upcoming
conference in Washington and more specifically about the labor dispute at
the hotel. Ever since I learned about the union boycott of the Sheraton
Crystal City, I’ve been obsessed with trying to find a solution that would
allow me to attend the conference without ignoring the boycott. I’ve made it
my business to learn about the working conditions at the hotel, that is
owned by a corporation called HEI, and to understand the conference
committee and Cohousing Board’s reasons for not moving the conference. My
intention in writing to the coho-L is to broaden the conversation between
those who will be coming to the conference and those who, like me, would
love to come, but won’t because of the boycott. I’m not interested in
trashing the Board or undermining the conference; I just want to ask what
can we learn from this experience and *what should we do now*?



I’m a newcomer to cohousing. Last year was my first conference and I came
home knowing that I want to live in cohousing as soon as I can figure out
all the logistics. I’ve been looking forward to this year’s conference since
then. When I found out about the boycott, I felt devastated because I knew
immediately that I would never ignore a boycott or cross a picket line.
Since then, I’ve been looking for other people who felt the same way and
have found a few of them. We've talked about what we might do to move the
conference. As you all know, the contract that was signed for this
conference stipulates a $15,000 cancellation  fee. The Board simply could
not afford to lose that much money and thought they had no other choice but
to stay at the Sheraton. I wish they had made a different decision back in
March, when they learned about the hotel’s deception.



Isn’t cohousing about creating supportive communities to live in? Shouldn’t
we be supporting hotel workers right to form their own supportive
communities? Shouldn’t we, as a community, use our pool of experience and
commitment to fight a hotel that abuses its workers and deceives its
customers? Workers need our support because the management treats them
poorly and doesn't care about them as individuals worthy of respect and
consideration. This is nothing new; it happens everywhere and it has been
labor unions throughout U.S. history that have fought and won battles over
workplace safety, the 8 hour day, the right to take breaks, and make a
living wage.



Think about it this way. If, after signing the contract, we learned that the
hotel was next to a toxic waste dump, I’m sure we would have moved heaven
and earth to relocate the conference and get our money back. I don’t believe
my own health and well-being is more valuable than the busboys, bellmen, and
housekeepers of the Sheraton. What do you think we should do?



Here is more information about the boycott and labor dispute with HEI
Hotels.

http://www.hotelworkersrising.org/hei/


Sincerely,
Susan Green