A LONG time coming. . . .

5 Years. That's how long it took to get justice for the 500 workers at the Claremont Resort and Spa. After 5 years of boycotting and picketing and delegating and leafleting and getting up in the managers' faces and just generally causing as much trouble for as many people as possible, the Claremont has finally given up and stopped fighting. They finally got the message that no matter how long they held out, the workers would last longer.

It's a crazy thing--the Claremont fight being over. It was my campaign for three years, and has still been going on this 4th year that I've been in Oakland. The Claremont--and being the organizer who was working on the Claremont--has literally defined my entire experience of living in California, has literally defined who I am and how I think about myself. It will be a little bit harder to make sense of California, and certainly to make sense of me, now that it's done. I imagine it must be how people felt when the Hundred Years War finally ended--when war has been the reality for so long, what do you even make of peace time? If you're not fighting, if you're not a soldier, then what are you?

I feel good about the Claremont, and the role I played there. I know that I am a little tiny piece of the reason that Claremont workers are getting huge raises and great health insurance. I'm a part of the reason housekeepers will have a pension for the first time in the history of the hotel. I'm a part of the reason that spa workers won't be treated like second class citizens--expendable and disposable.

But I'm also sad and a little angry. It's a wonderful victory, but there have been so many losses along the way. I think about workers who were fired. I think about workers who destroyed their bodies doing difficult work and had to quit. I think about workers who lost hope and left before they got to see this victory. I think about all the sacrifices people made along the way. I hope that they never have to do this again.

But mostly, I hope that they don't forget what they learned. I hope I don't forget what I learned. I hope we don't forget how to stand up, how to fight, how to get in people's faces and push for what we deserve. I hope we don't forget and get complacent. I hope we always remember how to last one day longer.

Check out the Oakland Tribune article for more information.

Claremont workers, organizers and clergy celebrate the formal addition of 100+ spa workers to the union. From left: Mario, Sonia, Pastor Jeff, Wei-Ling, Armando, Steve, Francisco, Alice, Keo, Marcos, Richard and Claire.