Amma and the workers at the LAX Hilton

[Guest guest]

I am sorry to hear that the tour leaders did not take the workers'

concerns seriously. This is a survival issue for many people, and i

have seen how badly hotel workers are treated and how hard they work.

They have gone through speedups where they are expected to clean

dozens of rooms a day, stripping beds and washing showers all day is

tough going as anyone who has done it knows. Most people don't even

know to leave a tip for the underpaid women who do their rooms,

though they would be aghast at not tipping a waiter or a hairdresser.

 

I hope that the tour leaders will be more responsive in the future,

and show a spirit of caring for people who want a fair wage.

 

Max

 

>The workers I met were not so much angry at Amma, but very angry with

>the American organizers of the tour, the leaders of the MA Center, and

>the LA organization because workers had tried to be in contact with

>them for a solid year and, at first, the leaders of the organizations

>refused to respond to them. When, after ongoing persistence, they

>finally did respond, they showed no sympathy or compassion or even

>concern about the difficult situation.

>(snip)

>The last and most important thing that the workers said to me was that

>what they most need right now is for us to help make sure that next

>year's event NOT be held at the LAX Hilton. Whatever we do with this

>year's event with it being the second year of a two year contract,

>there is no excuse for holding the event at the LAX Hilton again next

>year now that the contract is over. I am going to look for a way for

>anyone who is willing to help convince the tour organizers and the MA

>Center and the LA leaders to move next year's gathering to another

>hotel. I think this will help protect Amma from all this controversy

>and also allow the event to be more open to everyone.

 

--

Max Dashu

Suppressed Histories Archives

http://www.suppressedhistories.net

Real Women, Global Vision

[Guest guest]

Hotel workers are some of the hardest working and most underpaid in

the U.S. I hope tour organizers will respect the union workers in the

future and find another venue for Amma next year. If it is true, I am

shocked and disappointed to hear that tour organizers ignored

discussing this with the workers and ignored their calls. Of course,

I have no idea if that is a fact either. When union workers have a

grievance, the only thing that helps the workers is to respect the

boycott. I know this is an Amma page but let's please ask tour

organizers to consider respecting the American workers. I cannot make

any assumptions about how this happened, but hopefully it will not

happen again. Being union myself, I can testify that most workers

have real grievances. Companies are more than happy to strip

everything from workers. It's only through unions that most of us

even have any benefits. So that said, hopefully tour organizers will

be well informed about any boycotts and make more mindful choices in

the future.

 

Ammachi , Max Dashu <maxdashu wrote:

>

> I am sorry to hear that the tour leaders did not take the workers'

> concerns seriously. This is a survival issue for many people, and i

> have seen how badly hotel workers are treated and how hard they

work.

> They have gone through speedups where they are expected to clean

> dozens of rooms a day, stripping beds and washing showers all day

is

> tough going as anyone who has done it knows. Most people don't even

> know to leave a tip for the underpaid women who do their rooms,

> though they would be aghast at not tipping a waiter or a

hairdresser.

>

> I hope that the tour leaders will be more responsive in the future,

> and show a spirit of caring for people who want a fair wage.

>

> Max

>

> >The workers I met were not so much angry at Amma, but very angry

with

> >the American organizers of the tour, the leaders of the MA Center,

and

> >the LA organization because workers had tried to be in contact with

> >them for a solid year and, at first, the leaders of the

organizations

> >refused to respond to them. When, after ongoing persistence, they

> >finally did respond, they showed no sympathy or compassion or even

> >concern about the difficult situation.

> >(snip)

> >The last and most important thing that the workers said to me was

that

> >what they most need right now is for us to help make sure that next

> >year's event NOT be held at the LAX Hilton. Whatever we do with

this

> >year's event with it being the second year of a two year contract,

> >there is no excuse for holding the event at the LAX Hilton again

next

> >year now that the contract is over. I am going to look for a way

for

> >anyone who is willing to help convince the tour organizers and the

MA

> >Center and the LA leaders to move next year's gathering to another

> >hotel. I think this will help protect Amma from all this

controversy

> >and also allow the event to be more open to everyone.

>

> --

> Max Dashu

> Suppressed Histories Archives

> http://www.suppressedhistories.net

> Real Women, Global Vision

>