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

[Shanique Jones (sjones]

My name is Shanique Jones and I'm with the hotel workers 
union Unite Here.  Below is a video on the launch of the 
Sheraton Crystal City boycott.  If anyone has questions 
on this labor dispute feel free to contact me at: 
856-308-6611

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrB06n_YE9A

In Solidarity,
Shanique Jones
UNITE HERE




On Tue, 24 May 2011 21:47:38 -0700
 Susan <susan.mx [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> 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
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