Dear URPE members,
Please stay tuned about the alternative plan for URPE sessions. We will know about an alternative location in San Fransisco today or tomorrow, and will update everyone accordingly. It was not possible to get any information on costs and availability on these locations sooner due to the long weekend/holiday.
A few updates:
- It looks increasingly likely that URPE (and other organizations) can continue to be listed on the program even if we move our sessions. The AEA thus far insists on these being in-person, however. We will confirm this in a day or two, once official word from the AEA is received on the matter.
- There has also been an extension of the deadline to request refunds of pre-registration to December 12th. Registrations after Dec 12th on on-site registrations will not be refunded whatsoever. In other words, we have a bit more time to make alternative arrangements. If we stay on the program and are able find an alternative venue for URPE sessions, the issue of canceling pre-registrations will of course, become irrelevant.
A few members of the Steering Committee have been working to organize other organizations and more mainstream economists to join us in pressuring the AEA to do something about the hotel workers strike (inform members, not cross picket lines, allow canceling organizations to stay on the program etc.). A petition put together by mainstream labor economist Aaron Sojourner and others, with a lot of help from URPE’s SC members Hannah Archambault and Jennifer Cohen is in circulation.
Please consider signing the petition. The language may not be especially radical in its wording, but the aim is broad-based appeal to a majority of the economists who will be at these meetings. The petition is currently hosted on Aaron Sojourner’s blog, and they are trying to figure out how to show the signatory names. Please do not let this dissuade you from signing!
https://aaronsojourner.org/hotel-workers-strike-and-the-2025-assa-annual-meeting/