Carpenters union ends strike; convention center not ready for their return

The Carpenters Local 8 decided to end its brief strike at the Pennsylvania Convention Center late Thursday evening but were told not to come back to work, business manager Ed Coryell Sr. said Friday morning.

But Bob McClintock, senior vice president of convention center operator SMG, said “no one is locked out.” McClintock said he received a call at roughly 11 p.m. Thursday evening from a union official saying the carpenters were ready to end their strike that began earlier that day. But by that point, SMG made other plans to help them wrap up the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) which brought 13,000 people to the region.

“We told them we’re determining our work needs right now and that we’d be in touch,” McClintock said. “This is standard operating procedure when a union chooses to go out on strike but then says they want to come back to work.”

For the second time in the past 12 months, the carpenter’s union went on strike. The latest strike is due to work-rule changes that the center’s board of directors say will “provide exhibitors with greater flexibility to build their booths and displays” as they can in other cities. The union is concerned that the changes will reduce members’ hours and income.

Coryell said there was an handshake agreement in place with all six unions that work and the center but that a subcommittee of the center’s board rejected the proposed deal. That’s when the union chose to go out on strike. But McClintock said the subcommittee had not “taken a formal action” on the agreement when Local 8 went out on strike.

Coryell said he received calls “from several people,” though he did not say exactly who those individuals were, urging the union to end the strike Thursday. He said he agreed and was rebuffed by SMG, the private company that look over management of the center in December.

McClintock said SMG had to bring in other contractors to wrap up the AAN convention. He said there was no interruption of Convention Center activities.

Next week is supposed to be a busy one for the Convention Center, with events for the Broad Street Run, Konami, the American Cancer Society, and Commonwealth Connections.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal