Craigslist has received some criticism on its feedback forum for running scab job ads on behalf of SF's locked-out hotels. By advertising for the temporary strikebreakers, Craigslist, often described as a "progressive community," has in effect engaged in "an electronic form of crossing the picket line" and assisted the employers in continuing their lockout, according to the feedback.

Contacted directly, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark has been reluctant to ban the ads outright without first conferring with local politicos in City Hall, who have been heavily involved in negotiation efforts between hotel workers' Local 2 and management. Peter Ragone, spokesman for Mayor Newsom and former spokesman for Gov. Davis' anti-recall campaign, said on Oct. 19th that "things looked good," and asked Craigslist to check back in a couple days; "At this point, anything inflammatory can screw up negotiations." Since then, hotel management, known as the Multi-Employer Group, failed to show up at a Board of Supervisor's hearing for the second week in a row, and rejected Newsom's proposal for a 90-day cooling-off period, drawing yet another lambasting by Tom Ammiano and other city Supervisors.

The Craigslist Foundation, a "platform for social philanthropy," is hosting a "VIP Reception" tonight, 10/23 at, Terra, 511 Harrison Street. Labor activists have called for another flying picket in solidarity with the locked-out workers for Sunday, 10/24, starting at Powell and Geary at 7 p.m.