Brown’s President Paxson and Committee Calls for Boycott of Providence Hotel
Saturday, November 14, 2015
GoLocalProv News Team and Kate Nagle
The Brown University University Community Council (BUCC), Chaired by President Christina Paxson has called on a boycott of the Hilton Hotel in Provicence. The BUCC is a forum of students, faculty, administrators. It voted to approve a resolution recommending that the University community refrain from patronizing the Hilton Providence hotel and that the hotel be removed from accommodations listings on the University website.
According to the statement issued by the BUCC, “the resolution was put forward by members of the Student Labor Alliance, a student advocacy group, in cooperation with Unite Here Local 217, a union that represents hospitality industry workers in Rhode Island and Connecticut. Workers from the Hilton Providence hotel called for a boycott on April 15, 2015, as part of an effort to improve working conditions at the hotel. “
Cameron Johnson, a BUCC member, said, “With passage of this resolution, the Council has condemned The Procaccianti Group’s record of callous disregard for hotel workers’ rights. The Council has sent a strong message to the community that this conduct is unacceptable.”
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Efforts to get comment from the President were unsuccessful. Members of the University’s communication department did not respond to questions.
The Hilton Providence is owned by The Procaccianti Group. According to the BUCC statement, The Procaccianti Group “has repeatedly faced public pressure, including from two earlier BUCC resolutions, for its harsh labor practices. Workers are routinely given high workloads and room quotas.”
The following is what the BUCC approved:
BUCC approved:
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the BUCC encourages the Brown community to take all appropriate measures to avoid holding any events at the Hilton Hotel in Providence during the current labor dispute and notify relevant university events planning bodies of the ongoing labor dispute at the Hilton Hotel, and refrain from listing the Hilton Hotel in any publications during the ongoing labor dispute.
The members of the BUCC include:
President Christina Paxson, Chair
Provost Richard Locke
Reid Cooper, Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences
Susan Harvey, Professor of Religious Studies
Jennifer Lambe, Assistant Professor of History
Steven Lubar, Professor of American Studies, Professor of History of Art and Architecture, Professor of History
Vesna Mitrovic, Associate Professor of Physics
Don Operario, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Anita Shukla, Assistant Professor of Engineering
Kurt Teichert, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Studies
Mary Grace Almandrez, Interim Assistant Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services
Russell Carey, Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy
Cass Cliatt, Vice President for Communications
Beverly Ledbetter, Vice President and General Counsel
Paula McNamara '84
Lily Cohen '18
Manuel Contreras '16
Sazzy Gourley '16, UCS President
Cameron Johnson '17
Grace Stokan '16
Eve Dewan GS', Anthropology
Sveta Milusheva GS', Economics
Joel Simundich GS', English, GSC President
Liz Rubin MD'16
Jovian Yu MD'16, MSS President
Fernando Betancourt, Custodial Services
Kelly Garrett, LGBTQ Center
Dawn Goodman, Department of Epidemiology
Leora Johnson, Alumni Relations
Brendan McNally, Business, Entrepreneurship, and Organizations
Linda Welsh, Counseling and Psychological Services
Milisa Galazzi '88
James Gardner '65 SCM '68
Emily Maranjian '86
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