[Linganth] Fwd: [aaaunite] Sign the Canterbury Statement

[P. Kerim Friedman]

Begin forwarded message:

  Please Sign the Canterbury Statement. You can sign online at:

  <http://www.petitiononline.com/sf112004/petition.html>

  November 20, 2004

  San Francisco, California

  Canterbury Statement

An open letter to the Executive Board (EB) of the American
Anthropological Association (AAA):

In response to recent events, we believe that reforms need to be made
in how the AAA makes decisions so that it uses the collective power of
its membership to advance fundamental human rights as well as carries
out its functions as a professional organization. To that end, we are
committed to ensure that AAA leaders and membership engage in a
productive discussion about the following: 1) the levels of material
support the AAA staff needs to negotiate contracts that promote
collective bargaining and the right to organize while protecting the
Association from liability, and 2) the need for greater transparency,
accountability, and responsiveness in the management of the
Association, particularly pertaining to communication between the AAA
staff, its elected leadership, and the Association's constituent
sections, committees, and members.

We would like the AAA EB to publicly explain what mechanisms will be
put into place to address the above issues. We are particularly
concerned that the EB consider taking the following steps:

     o Establish an elected Committee on Labor Issues composed of AAA
members who will conduct ongoing consultation with AAA staff, labor
leaders, labor attorneys, and other academic and professional
organizations on ethical business practices. The committee will seek
alliances that promote the interests of labor while protecting the
Association from liability.

     o In anticipation of labor disputes in Washington, DC in 2005 and
in San Francisco in 2006, renegotiate the existing Marriot and Hilton
contracts to include force majeure (“opt-out”) language that protects
AAA in the event of such disputes.

     o Resolve to ensure that the staff

      	  o works closely with the Committee on Labor Issues,
          o pursues contracts only with union vendors,
          o adds force majeure (“opt-out”) language that protects AAA in
the event of a labor dispute to all future vendor contracts,
          o prioritizes vendors in union environments over anti-union,
“right-to-work” environments,
          o and increases AAA’s conference liability insurance.

     o Evaluate the conference staff and the resources available to
them, with an eye towards ensuring that they are adequately staffed,
trained, and managed in a way that ensures their actions are
transparent and that they are accountable and responsive to the EB and
membership.

   Respectfully,

   Karen Brodkin, Professor, UCLA
Sharryn Kasmir, Associate Professor, Hofstra University
June Nash, Distinguished Professor Emerita, CUNY
Gillian Newell, PhD Candidate, University of Arizona
Robert T. O'Brien, PhD Candidate, Temple University
Thomas E. Sheridan, Professor, University of Arizona
Yuriko C. Wellington, Assistant Professor, University of Hawaii

   Signatures have been added in alphabetical order


****************************************
Robert T. O'Brien
AAAUnite Ad Hoc Committee
http://AAAUnite.blogspot.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aaaunite/
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Anthropology
Temple University
robrien at temple.edu
215-803-5181

"Don't mourn, organize!"
-- Labor organizer Joe Hill, before being murdered in 1915 by a firing
squad.