Hello everyone,

During the past two weeks, I have been working a few poeple from lefty geographer groups, the AAG
leadership, and the hotel union (HERE) to craft resolution language that would get the AAG into
union hotels. I have attached the complete and annotated resolution below. Most importantly, it
establishes a preference for union hotels and service providers during the contracting process;
insures that the Association retains the right to pull out of a hotel facing a labor dispute; and
requires staff to update membership yearly on the implementation of these policies. As you can
see, the language on union hotel preference is a substantial compromise to the concerns expressed
by AAG leadership. So while the resolution stands a decent chance of getting passed by Council on
Saturday/Sunday, the fight is not over. We have to let the AAG know that we are paying attention
to this issue, and that we will not let the matter drop in either the short term or long term.

What this means for next week is that REGARDLESS of the Council's action, we need to get AS MANY
SUPPORTERS to the Business Meeting as possible. The meeting will take place Wednesday, 11:50-12:50
and is tentatively scheduled for Salon D. If the Council rejects, waters down, or waits to act on
the resolution, we need to express our displeasure. If the Council accepts the resolution, we must
tell them that we are encouraged, but will be holding them accountable.

A few of us are working on a flyer to inform attendees about the issue and get them to the
business meeting. For those of you who can, please check your e-mail for the flyer on Sunday. We
will also be drawing up a petition in support of the resolution; we will likely change it on
Sunday to reflect the decision of the Council. I will be passing out both flyers and
clipboards/petitions at the conference.

Please let me know:
*if you can volunteer to collect signatures, and if so, how I can reach you at the conference
*if you can speak about the resolution at the business meeting, your specialty group meeting, or a
session that you are chairing
*if you can be join me as a point person for collecting petitions, etc. (this is something of a
plea)

Cheers,
Chris Niedt

********
The resolution (** are annotations not included in the submitted version):

WHEREAS, the Association of American Geographers (AAG) has an expressed commitment to geographic
activity that benefits society; and

WHEREAS, the deindustrialization of many U.S. cities and the growth of the urban tourism industry
has placed hotels and related service providers among the largest urban employers; and

WHEREAS, hotel union representation raises wages, supplies benefits, and protects worker rights,
thereby insuring that economic growth benefits a workforce often composed of people of color, and
particularly women of color; and

WHEREAS, the AAG's decision to hold meetings in union or non-union hotels strengthens or weakens
the ability of these workers and their unions to secure better working conditions and contribute
to equitable urban growth; and

WHEREAS, the AAG membership has expressed a preference for Annual Meetings that are sited in a
variety of cities and regions from year to year;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the AAG will adopt, as part of its standing rules, a policy of
union preference in negotiating hotel and service contracts for the Annual Meeting and for any
other meetings organized by the national Association; and

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that those responsible for negotiating and administering said
contracts shall, in accordance with this policy of union preference:

(a) continue to vary Annual Meeting locations by city and by region; and
**reassures those worried about limiting conference location, and prevents the AAG from siting a
string of future conferences in the non-union South.

(b) prioritize open bidding in the contracting process, rather than the development of
relationships between the association and particular hotels; and
**maximizes the selection of union hotels and prevent the development of informal relationships
between AAG HQ and the sales offices of anti-union hotel chains

(c) give first preference to a suitable unionized hotel and/or service provider from the list of
open bids, provided that contracting with such providers would not result in prohibitively
expensive fees for conference participants; if no union hotel/service provider can be thus
selected, the AAG shall choose another hotel that meets the Association's conference needs; and
**institutes union preference, with compromise language on "suitablility" and "prohibitively
expensive fees";

(d) select only hotels that agree to include force majeure clauses(1) in their contracts with AAG,
such that the AAG is excused from performance in the event of a labor dispute; and
**requires the AAG to retain the right to move the conference; if a labor dispute actually does
arise, we will need to apply pressure so that the AAG does move the conference;

(e) report on the implementation of this policy to the membership yearly, preferably at the
association's Business Meeting and/or in the AAG newsletter.
**allows us to monitor the AAG's progress and to apply pressure if/when they select non-union
hotels.

___
**Footnote to (d), in the submitted resolution:
(1) Most hotel contracts contain a force majeure clause that excuses the hotel from performing if
things like acts of God, war, or riots occur. Strikes and labor disputes are often included,
though only the hotel is excused, not the group planning to use the hotel.