美国历史学家组织致会员的信(2005年2月15日)

tuesday, february 15, 2005

dear oah member,

as you may know, oah's plans for its 2005 annual meeting in san francisco have been complicated by the failure of the san francisco multi-employer group, an association of fourteen san francisco hotels that includes the hilton san francisco, and unite here local 2, the san francisco hotel workers' union, to settle on the terms of a new contract. local 2 led a brief strike last fall, followed by a longer lockout by the employers' association. a subsequent sixty-day cooling off period ended on january 23. no significant progress in talks between the union and employers' association have been reported. in the meantime, the hilton san francisco and thirteen other san francisco hotels remain under boycott by unite here.

with no end to the impasse in sight, oah faces the distinct possibility of a strike, lockout, or continued boycott at the hilton san francisco at the time of the 98th annual meeting.

last week, the oah executive office conducted an informal email survey of more than 900 convention participants and preregistrants. about three-quarters of the nearly five hundred respondents stated they would not cross a picket line of a hotel under strike or boycott.

given this situation, including concerns about asking our members to cross a union picket line, the oah executive board gave careful consideration to three alternatives: remaining at the hilton san francisco, moving to another location, and canceling the meeting entirely.

should the oah proceed with the convention at the hilton san francisco, the poll indicates that significant numbers of members would not cross a picket line. the organization could face losses of up to $412,000 in attrition charges (for sleeping rooms not rented) and $99,000 in revenue from registration fees.

should the oah cancel the convention entirely, it could lose in excess of $700,000 in revenue and penalties.

moving to another location also would entail likely financial risks. after careful investigation over the last several months of possible alternative locations in the bay area, the only site that meets our needs is san jose. holding the meeting in san jose could cost the oah an unbudgeted expense of $60,000. in addition the organization would owe liquidated damages to the hilton san francisco of up to $390,000, which oah is working to reduce or eliminate.

given these alternatives, there is no clear choice based on finances. the board has reluctantly decided that its only viable alternative is to move the annual convention to san jose. registration, exhibits, and many of the sessions will be in the mcenery san jose convention center. additional meeting rooms as well as sleeping rooms are available in adjacent and nearby hotels. the hotel rooms are in union facilities that are not under boycott.

oah will regularly update its web site with information on the meeting in san jose. information on san jose hotel rooms will be available february 21. in the meantime, if you have already made plane reservations for san francisco international airport (sfo) you can still fly into that facility and take the shuttle to san jose. if you have not made your plane reservations, you may wish to compare san jose international airport (sjc) and sfo rates before deciding which airport to use.

in the meantime, you can preregister for the meeting at http://www.oah.org/meetings/2005. the meeting will take place as scheduled march 31-april 3.

to help oah cover additional costs involved with the move from san francisco to san jose, please consider making a contribution online at https://www.oah.org/giving/ or sending your contribution to san jose special fund, oah, p.o. box 5457, bloomington, in 47408-5457.

for more information and the latest news about

the 2005 oah annual meeting, visit:

http://www.oah.org/meetings/2005/