PA Convention Center Faces More Union Conflict

The Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority has unanimously approved a plan that will allow exhibitors great flexibility in setting up their shows, in an economically driven move that seems set to create more friction between the venue and local unions.

The plan included an open letter to the center’s six main unions asking them to accept the removal of "arcane limitations upon exhibitors' rights,” thus allowing exhibitors to physically set up and break down their own booths in addition other new liberties.

While four out of six unions have put their signature to the proposal, a pair of them—the Carpenters Local 8 and the Teamsters Local 107—have declined, and the Convention Center Authority appears poised to move forward without them.

Upon the May 10 end to the center’s contract with the two uncompromising unions, the venue will turn to the four other unions that agreed to the new terms— Laborers, Electrical Workers (IBEW Local 98), Riggers and Stagehands—to cover all set-up jobs, even ones previously conducted by that the Carpenters and Teamsters unions.

The move by the venue follows a recent brief strike by the Carpenters Local 8, which reached a temporary solution with the extension of a collective bargaining agreement through May 10.

Meetings Focus will provide updates to the situation as it continues to evolve.

Source: Meetings Focus