> So why didn't you and your fellow staffers simply attend the conference and offer your points of view? Whether your intentions were violent or non-violent, the fact is that you did intend to disrupt the event. SR
Who on this list hasn't disrupted a meeting? The first one I participated in was Pat Buchannan's Presidential bid in 1992 when he came to speak on my college campus. We shouted him down from the audience, then left after a few minutes. Most recently was a few years ago (5+?) when we attempted to blockade the WB/IMF spring meetings in DC. We weren't too successful in actually stopping the meetings, but still got some good press.
I agree with Max's implicit point that there's a distinction between this kind of activity and disrupting a "pro-labor meeting" (which, according to Ken Paff -- certainly not on the SEIU payroll -- only lasted minutes). Yet I believe SEIU was justified in making its point at the Labor Notes conference (but of course my paycheck is signed by Andy Stern and Anna Burger). Demoro was invited by Labor Notes to give the keynote address on "rebuilding labor's power." Yet this same person directed her craft union to wreck the CHP workers' union election, and to begin raiding another union's members. Such counterproductive behavior can't be left unaddressed.