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

[Richart Keller (richart.keller]

Hi all

I am certainly sympathetic to and supportive of efforts to organize to
improve working conditions, and of unions generally.  I also believe that
oppression of any kind is not tolerable, and that it is our responsibility
to protest against oppression.

While you are right that "Cohousing is about a group of people getting
together to build a community of choice around living together", there are
also major differences between unions and cohousing communities.  I worked
as an organizer for several years, so I am not unfamiliar with the approach
which the union is taking in this case, as in many others.

I think that what is at issue here is a fundamental difference in approach
to problem-solving between the union and cohousers.  A core part of
cohousing is about concensus decision-making, about struggling together to
solve problems through communication; for me, living in cohousing is partly
about believing that each of us has a piece of the truth, and respecting
that in each other (as hard as it may be sometimes...!).  

I believe that we do not need to acquiesce in the oppressive practices of
hotel management.  At the same time, I do believe that we need to accept or
participate in all of the tactics of the union in order to support their
just cause.

I believe that by walking away from the conference, we would let our silence
speak, and I do not agree with what that silence would say.  I believe that,
being made aware of the oppressive treatment of workers, it is our
responsibility to speak out against it, but in our own way.  Our way is
basically the way of non-violence, of direct communication, of "speaking
truth to power".  I understand that Coho/US has offered to do its part to
share in the struggle in a number of ways; I support those efforts, will
attend the conference, and will participate in them.  I hope that our
extensive efforts to reach out to our union brothers and sisters will
succeed in convincing them that we are joined in the same struggle.

In community

Rick

Richart Keller, AICP
Pioneer Valley Cohousing
120 Pulpit Hill Road #25
Amherst, MA 01002
413-835-0011
401 486-2677 (cell)

   

-----Original Message-----
From: Ann Zabaldo [mailto:zabaldo [at] earthlink.net] 
Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2011 6:29 PM
To: Cohousing-L
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ How can we have a successful national conference
andrespect the hotel boycott at the same time?



Hello Susan --

Thank you for bringing back this issue to us.  It's a sticky one.

Since March when I became aware of this labor action at the Sheraton I have
struggled to figure out how to honor my values regarding labor issues,
strikes, boycotts, etc. and my values about cohousing.  I wonder if others
are struggling as well?  

Cohousing is about a group of people getting together to build a community
of choice around living together.  Similarly, a union is about a group of
people getting together to build a community of choice around working
together.  So crossing a picket line for me would be saying: my community is
more important than your community.

I am saddened by this situation.  I'm looking for anyway possible to attend
the conference and still be consistent w/ my values.  Back in March, I hoped
this issue would be resolved by the conference.  A little polyanna-ish on my
part.

So it looks as if for the first time ever ... I will miss a conference.  (I
missed the very first one held in Canada I believe because I didn't know it
was going on.)  But ever since the next one in Boulder ... I've come.  

Although I am not attending the conference (unless something happens to make
it possible -- hope springs eternal!) I am still supporting the cohousing
community by working on venues outside the hotel.  I'm actively promoting
the incredible bus tours Neil Planchon has organized.  If you want to learn
about cohousing really fast ... go on a bus tour!  Along w/ my biz partner,
Jack, my business Cohousing Collaborative, LLC is hosting the only book
event on the East Coast celebrating Katie and Chuck's publication of the 3rd
Edition of The Book That Started It All:  "Creating Cohousing."   Buy a copy
at the conference book store and have Katie and Chuck sign it!  I'm also
involved in two or more workshops being held at Takoma Village where I live.
And I've gotten people in my community to help find housing for folks who
cannot afford to stay at the hotel, and to organize a Sunday afternoon Open
House for conferees unable to go on one of the bus tours.

Still.  All of the above falls short of attending the conference, connecting
with new folks and reconnecting w/ others.  And yet ... I cannot in good
faith attend the conference when it means putting my needs over the needs of
others just because I can.

And I think there's a LOT more at stake here than attending a conference.
The conference is going to be a big success but I wonder if something else
is being lost.  Something we might not get back.

I dunno.  

What do you all think?



Best --

Ann Zabaldo
Takoma Village Cohousing
Washington, DC
Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
Falls Church VA
703 663 3911

On May 25, 2011, at 12:47 AM, Susan wrote:

> 
> Hello All,
> 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*?
> 
> 
> Here is more information about the boycott and labor dispute with HEI 
> Hotels.
> 
> http://www.hotelworkersrising.org/hei/
> 
> 
> Sincerely,
> Susan Green 
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
> 
> 

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