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

[Ingram Paperny (shakermillinn]

My dear Ann, I read your last posting re:the conference and the boycott,
with interest and sympathy. It too share your union activities and
discomfort. The thought of regularly crossing a picket line was unacceptable
and I have wondered why they (co housing USA}did not make changes as soon as
they were aware of the situation. I won t be missed, but  you will be.
Ingram Paperny

-----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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