Society for Medical Anthropology: president's statement
Nov. 15, 2004:
The labor action and subsequent lockout of workers by the majority of major hotel chains in San Francisco, and the subsequent AAA crisis, likely produced a number of conflicting sentiments among the SMA membership. Whatever one’s eventual position on the matter – toward the AAA, the SMA, or in regard to the social issues brought to light by the labor action itself – this crisis highlighted a number of weaknesses in the governance of the AAA and in the ability of large AAA sections, like the SMA, to take a timely public stand. If there is anything to learn here it is that we need to improve the responsiveness of the SMA and its parent association. It is in our collective best interest to do this because the issues and concerns central to this particular labor-management conflict are also fundamental to our subject and the work we do as medical anthropologists. These issues include problems as broad as the globalization of capital, effective resistance to the interests of this capital; the health care crisis in the U.S.; the exploitation of service workers, which number many first and second generation immigrants; and the social, economic, and health consequences of that exploitation. Let me cite just two examples.
First, the strike is in part about insuring that workers continue to have access to affordable health care. As is the case in many industries, unionized or not, corporations are passing on skyrocketing health care costs to workers, while at the same time reducing employer-provided health benefits. In San Francisco, the hotel chains have proposed that individual workers go from paying $10 a month for insurance today to $273 five years from now. The present wage increase on the table is just $0.20/hour, hardly enough to cover these increased costs. The problem of exploding health care costs, central to this particular local strike, is also a forceful reminder of much greater structural problems related to inefficiencies and inequities in American health care.
Secondly, much like recent strike actions in southern California against some of the nation’s largest food retailing corporations, the strike against the San Francisco hotel chains represents a local struggle against global corporate power. In doing so, the striking workers in San Francisco face a markedly uneven playing field. International corporations like Hilton can use its profits from operating hotels around the world (including the Hilton in Atlanta) to subsidize its losses during a local strike at one of its franchises. In southern California the big food chains were able to use this to their advantage, forcing workers to accept higher health care costs and lower wages for new employees. To avoid the same fate, the San Francisco hotel workers’ union – UNITE/HERE – is seeking to even the playing field by demanding an ending term to the contract that will coincide with contract expirations in several large cities. Timing of the end of the contract is a major issue in this strike, and will by the end of negotiations determine just how much power these workers – and their peers nationally -- will be able to garner in opposition to the national/global economic power of the corporations.
This issue brings into question the AAA’s decision to move its meetings to another Hilton Hotel. While the decision may have deprived the Hilton of some income, and contributed to the end of the lockout (which ended November 20), it is in a larger sense consistent with the Hilton’s interests. Unavoidable or not, it is difficult in my view to condone such an action. But, as I have written to the membership, we cannot in good conscience condemn such a decision either. Members of the Executive Board of the AAA, none of whom to my knowledge were in office when the contract was signed with the Hilton Corporation, were faced with a nearly impossible decision: place the financial stability and future of the organization at significant risk, or make a good faith effort to take both a principled stand and protect the organization. The Board, I believe, cannot be faulted for trying to make the least-worse of several possible decisions, all of which carried a high certainty of poor outcome for the AAA, and by extension, all of the sections.
So rather than seek to censure the AAA President and Executive Board, I would prefer that we use this crisis as a learning opportunity, a chance to reflect on the role that scholarly associations like the SMA might play in addressing critical social issues. I believe there are at least three lessons we can take away from this affair; lessons that suggest practical solutions.
First, and most importantly, the AAA must exercise due diligence in effecting contracts with corporate entities. The highest ethical principles, which I believe here must be informed by theories of social justice, must guide these actions. It was surprising to many of us that the AAA had not insisted on a strike provision in its contract with the Hilton. Secondly, it would seem that we need to pay greater attention to the local settings where we have our meetings. As purveyors of the importance of paying attention to local context, we seem to have been blind-sided by this one. We did not have enough good information soon enough. Even when knowledge of the strike was circulated widely to the membership, the underlying issues – just a few of which I have outlined here – were not, and probably are not, widely understood by members. More effective, faster, and more efficient communication of relevant information would seem to be in order. This dissemination of information must be matched with an effective means of assessing the opinions of the membership. Thirdly, we are not alone in being concerned about health insurance costs, exploitation of immigrant workers, or social justice. Large organizations like the AAA – the American Public Health Association, American Sociological Association, etc. – will face similar crises in arranging their own meetings and conferences. It will behoove us to join in coalition with these organizations in communicating to hotel corporations and conference organizers that we abide by certain principles that must take precedence in contractual negotiations.
How might these lessons be incorporated into the governance of the Society for Medical Anthropology? These are things that the Board has just begun to take up. Ultimately, I believe, the SMA must be, and must support its membership in being, much more public in its scholarship. Mark Nichter’s efforts to launch the “Takes-a-Stand” initiative, an initiative that is continuing, is a good start in this direction. I will recommend at our Spring board meeting that we form an SMA “rapid-response” policy group, which will be linked to what all of us hope to be a much more invigorated AAA policy center. The SMA policy group will be charged with three tasks: to assemble and disseminate information on important policy matters that are of concern to SMA members; author statements and white papers on these policy issues for public circulation; and serve as a resource for individual members who are attempting to take action on some problem or topic.
So, as I’ve written in recent news columns, I hope we can continue to work toward creating an effective scholarly community. We have done a fairly good job in developing our internal communications. We have a great journal, an excellent website, and our own list serve (of which I hope you are members). We provide ample conference venues for our members to communicate with one another. It’s now time, I think, to see what we can do about communicating effectively with those outside of our community, and to engage in constructive praxis around those issues that mean most to us as individual citizens as well as scholars. In this time where the concept of morality has become hegemonic discourse, it is important for us, in coalition with other organizations, to articulate a more fair and inclusive set of ethical principles. I ask you to join with me in making this effort. And I welcome your ideas, suggestions, self-nominations, and commitments to making this so. I’d like to hear from you.
Craig Janes