News & Blog

Cartoonists United Calls on SPX to Support Labor Boycott

Support feridundemir.org

Independent coverage of cartoons, cartoonists and visual satire worldwide.

feridundemir.org 15 August 2026

0 216 3 minutes read

Cartoonists United and Small Press Expo labor boycott dispute — Cartoonists United has called on artists and attendees to support the labor boycott involving the venue hosting Small Press Expo 2026.

Add feridundemir.org to your preferred sources on Google

With this year’s Small Press Expo only weeks away, a labor boycott involving the Maryland conference center that hosts the event has become a point of debate within the independent comics community.

Cartoonists United issued a statement on August 14 calling on SPX to publicly support workers organizing at the Montgomery County Conference Center. The group also asked the festival not to book the venue again until the dispute is resolved.

At the heart of the dispute is a boycott called by UNITE HERE Local 25. The union’s objections concern a new operating agreement between Montgomery County and Marriott, which runs the conference center, and the absence of provisions related to collective bargaining. The boycott has also received support from the national AFL-CIO.

SPX responded earlier in the week, saying that while it supports workers’ rights to organize, bargain collectively and seek fair working conditions, it cannot take part in the boycott without putting the festival itself at serious financial risk.

According to SPX, its agreements with the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center extend through 2029. Cancelling this year’s contract alone would leave the nonprofit facing an $85,787 cancellation fee, an amount organizers say they cannot afford.

SPX also looked into moving the event elsewhere in the Washington, DC area. The organization says another venue could increase table fees, admission prices and hotel costs by 30 percent or more, making the event considerably more expensive for exhibitors and visitors.

Cartoonists United responded by calling for further action from SPX. The group wants the festival to publicly ask the venue operator to remain neutral during the workers’ organizing effort and to make no new bookings at the conference center until the dispute is settled.

It also encouraged exhibitors and visitors who can afford to do so to cancel their plans to attend SPX. The group acknowledged that withdrawing from the event may not be financially possible for everyone and said no one should take on a loss they cannot afford.

Those who still attend were asked not to buy food or drinks inside the conference center and, if a picket line is present, to support it.

Cartoonists United also said it had tried to contact SPX in an effort to open discussions that could benefit both the festival and UNITE HERE, but had received no response. That account comes from Cartoonists United; SPX has not publicly confirmed that part of the group’s statement.

SPX says its decision not to join the boycott should not be read as opposition to the workers. The organization says it supports their right to organize and hopes the dispute can be resolved through a fair agreement.

The dispute has now moved beyond the conference center and into the wider independent comics community. Cartoonists United is urging artists and attendees to back the boycott, while SPX maintains that leaving the venue could put the event’s future at risk.

Small Press Expo 2026 is currently scheduled for September 12–13, 2026, at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.