Cartoonists United Takes Aim at SPX Over Labor Dispute
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Cartoonists United (formerly the Cartoonist Cooperative) has issued a statement regarding Small Press Expo’s decision to not participate in the boycott of the Montgomery County Conference Center. Cartoonists United is asking SPX to publicly advocate for the collective bargaining protections the local union is asking for, and to find a new venue until the dispute is settled. Additionally, Cartoonists United is asking participants and attendees to cancel their plans to attend.
Earlier this week SPX announced that due to financial concerns they were not able to join the boycott. They wrote, “our inability to join this particular boycott should not be understood as indifference to the issues at stake. Montgomery County is our home and we wish to see it prosper for those who live and work here every day.”
Cartoonists United claims they have tried to reach out to SPX to “open a dialogue that would benefit both SPX and UNITE HERE,” but did not get a response.
As labor organizers at CartUn, we stand in solidarity with UNITE HERE Local 25, and we are asking SPX to publicly call on the operator to agree to neutrality in the workers’ organizing campaign and to commit to not booking the Conference Center again until the dispute is resolved. We strongly encourage both vendors and attendees to cancel their plans for SPX if it is financially possible to do so. We understand that canceling is not going to be an option for everyone, and no one should take on a loss they cannot afford.
To attendees, the union asks them not to buy food or drinks at the conference center and if there is a picket line outside to join it.
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