Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: THE TERRIBLE UNION DILEMMA

[Diane (dianeclaire]

Both Linda and Don's ideas are great and creative.  As this dilemma has been
building I have been reading George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia" about his
participation in the Spanish Civil War. I was struck by how often those who
want to support workers' rights, war among themselves and end up hurting
their cause.  Had anti-facist factions not fought with each other, it is
possible Spain would not have had to endure 36 years of Franco rule.

The reason our current dilemma is so painful is that we want to support the
workers and we want to support cohousing.  We need to find ways to support
the workers without destroying Coho/us?  As David Entin and others have
said, without sufficient registrations for the Conference, there is a strong
likelihood that Coho/us will not survive.

We all wish to support Unite Here,  the worker's right to check card
balloting, and Coho/US

We do wish to do all we can to get the hotel administration to accept check
card balloting and at the same time support Coho/US

Don and Linda's suggestions are excellent.   Here are some more:

1.   If you really agree with Unite Here that boycotting the hotel and
therefore the Conference is the one and only way to support the workers,
then use the money you would have spent on the Conference to make a donation
to Coho/US.

2. If you want to support the workers and Coho/US, come to the conference
and leave big tips for the cleaning staff and other workers.  Make it clear
that you hope they will join in any Union action they can.  Give them Union
literature.

3.  Come to the Conference and help pass out literature that explains why
the Union opposes a secret ballot and favors the check card -- it is not
easy to explain this and Coho/US has made many offers to have sessions in
support of Unite Here. None were accepted.  Wikipedia gives some
explanation:.  Go to <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_check>

There are probably many other ways to support the workers, and to influence
the Hotel administration while supporting Coho/US.  If you think of some,
let us know.

Diane Margolis, a resident of Cambridge Cohousing, a member of Coho/US
Board, and a member of AAUP.

On Tue, May 31, 2011 at 12:52 PM, Don Marti <dmarti [at] zgp.org> wrote:

>
> begin Linda Gluck quotation of Tue, May 31, 2011 at 08:34:16AM -0400:
>
> > I am coming to the conference, with a heavy conscience. Maybe we could
> demonstrate our union support by wearing  Unite Here buttons during the
> conference?
>
> The high-margin items in the hotel business aren't
> the rooms, but the room service, bar, minibar,
> pay-per-view, laundry, phone, and so on.  If you
> want to make an impact without losing the deposit,
> you could tell them: "we are fulfilling our side
> of the contract, but we have informed our attendees
> about the union situation and are asking them not to
> make additional purchases from the hotel."
>
> (I am an associate and one of the
> webmasters for Eastlake Cohousing:
> http://north-oakland-cohousing.org/, a group in the
> East Bay, California.  We are structured as an LLC
> and in the process of buying an apartment building
> near Lake Merritt in Oakland.  For more info, please
> visit the web site and join the mailing list or
> Facebook group.)
>
> --
> Don Marti
> http://zgp.org/~dmarti/
> dmarti [at] zgp.org
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>


-- 
Diane Margolis
175 Richdale Av.
Cambridge, MA 02140
617 354 1349