I heard from a good source that the annual American Association of Justice (AAJ) convention, originally scheduled for July 16-19 – will be moved to San Francisco July 25-29.
The change in venue was precipitated by the planned protests that were to be held outside the Manchester Hyatt by the LGBT community and San Diego Labor Movement.
-The LGBT community will be legally picketing the Manchester Hyatt due to its owner’s outspoken support and fundraising for proposition 8, the recent ballot initiative that discriminates against the LGBT community. Doug Manchester raised over $125,000 in support of the proposition.
-The Labor movement is picketing due to Manchester’s Hyatt’s unfair labor practices, allegedly forcing housekeepers to clean more rooms than housekeepers at other Hyatt hotels, including the other Hyatt hotel in San Diego. In 2006, housekeepers began lunch hour protests against working conditions in the hotel, saying that their daily room quota had been increased from 17 to 30 rooms per shift.
While I was excited to go to San Diego in the summer, I welcome the decison of the AAJ to move the venue and stand up for the principles it was founded on.