Dear George:

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to comment on the weekly protests at the Marriott Hotel by the Living Wage Campaign. I would like to give my comments on the protest and then give my comments on the campaign.

Brian Campbell in front of the John Vowles House, May 25, 2001

I am the Executive Director of the UVa Medical Alumni Association and we are physically next door to the Marriott Hotel. The Friday afternoon protests have gone from being mildly annoying to a major distraction to our business. I am sure that this rather rude behavior on the part of the protestors and their horn-blowing accomplices is being done in an effort to create a chaotic environment, which will lead to higher wages for employees at the hotel. I can assure you that from my perspective (and that of my entire staff), that these childish and inmature acts have not won them any sympathizers. 1 1/2 to 2 hours of constant blaring horns has a unique effect on someone who is trying to perform tasks related to their jobs. It leads to a dehumanizing of the protestors in the eyes and hearts of those people who are subjected to this torture.

When I look out my window on Friday's and see people waving banners that encourage someone to honk their horns, it gives me a great sense of anger. The issue is no longer wages at the Marriott, but the boorish behavior of these modern day hippies! I have learned many lessons in my life and the best lesson that I learned was from my parents regarding manners. I am all for the 1st amendment and for honorable acts of civil disobedience. However, creating a noisy, chaotic thoroughfare is not only childish, but what I would consider the height of intellectual laziness.

I might also point out that representatives of this campaign have gone so far as to distribute malicious material in the Virginia Beach neighborhood of the owner of the hotel. When I was in the military, we had a name for people like this -- terrorists.

Now let me comment on the Living Wage Campaign.

Eleven years ago this summer, I was experiencing some personal and financial difficulties (I was 27 and an honorably discharged Veteran). I took a job as a night stock clerk at the Farm Fresh Grocery Store in Grafton, Virginia. I was paid a minimum wage and was barely able to support myself. However, I was grateful for the money and the ability I had to climb higher in the job market. I am not unaware or unsympathetic to the plight of the working poor. I was also happy to see the City of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia agree to pay all of their employees a living wage.

However, I think that private businesses face a more challenging situation. A handbill that is being distributed by the protestors says, "Don't you think that if Courtyard by Marriott charges $119 per night for a room that they can afford to pay their housekeeping staff a living wage of at least $8.00 an hour?" We send a lot of business to this hotel and I can tell you that the only time that they are able to get $119 a night is for special events (Football, Dave Matthews). A more likely rate is $89 or $99 a night. For that rate, the Hotel has to pay all of its expenses and return a reasonable profit to its owners (I might add that this hotel generates a significant lodging tax which helps support many programs in Charlottesville). If a higher wage is payed, then room rates go up, which will probably lead to lower occupancy and potential lay-offs of these very same employees. Is the Marriott the only Hotel in Charlottesville that warrants this kind of intense hatred from these protestors?

I would just as soon stay out of this fight. Our organization has made a substantial investment on West Main Street and have helped revitalize the
entire corridor. We now find that it is almost impossible to conduct our business during these protests. I am not very proud of the intense anger
that I feel towards the protestors. My alternatives are few. As long as the horn-blowing campaign continues, I will look for more and more ways to patronize this hotel.

Brian Campbell (electronic mail, May 23, 2001).

*Editor's Note: I have no first hand knowledge, one way or the other, whether individuals have distributed material in the Virginia Beach neighborhood of the owner of the hotel. The piece on "Residential Picketing in Virginia" is my own insert and placed in the body of Brian Campbell's letter for educational purposes.

In the meantime, Brian Campbell has offered to give a tour of the John Vowles House, where the UVa Alumni Medical Association is located, to anyone who is interested.