Union refuses to do Carpenters work at Convention Center

As the four day 11th annual BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology event wraps up Thursday, the Pennsylvania Convention Center will be preparing to disassemble the show, putting its new customer satisfaction agreement to the test.

Two of the six unions – the Carpenters Local 8 and the Teamsters Local 107 – have been barred from work after failing to meet the deadline of May 5 at 11:59 p.m. to sign the agreement. And, under the new rules, work would be split up among the four remaining unions. They are the Electrical Workers Local 98, Stagehands Local 8, Ironworkers Local 405 and Laborers Local 332.

And, in a sign of solidarity with the two ousted unions, Stephen Sweeney, general vice president of the Iron Workers District said Wednesday that his members would not do work Carpenters were responsible for, urging the Convention Center to rethink its decisions.

Here’s more:

As one of the signatories to the Customer Service Agreement, we are troubled by the Pennsylvania Convention Center Board’s on-going refusal to accept the signed Customer Service Agreements that the Carpenters and Teamsters unions hand delivered to PCC Executive Director John McNichol last Friday.

If the goal was to have all six unions sign the CSA, then we have accomplished that goal and it’s time to move forward and end this labor dispute now – before any irreversible harm is done.

It’s time for the Board to act quickly and accept the signed agreements and welcome our fellow union brothers and sisters back into the Convention Center – and end this disharmony which has the potential to undue so much good.

Speaking for our union, we urge the PCC Board to move quickly, accept the signed agreements and put an end to this labor dispute immediately.

In response to being barred from returning to work, members of the Carpenters union handed out leaflets May 12 calling the Convention Center out on “leaving their work to be done by lesser-qualified, inexperienced individuals.”

Pete Peterson, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority, said quality of work would stay the same and that “the involvement of carpenters is limited to [convention centers in] the Northeast, and [the] other centers operate efficiently.”

The Carpenters and Teamsters filed a National Labor Relations board charge against the Convention Center on Monday, alleging unfair labor practices. The Carpenters argue that they believed the customer satisfaction agreement was included in a collective bargaining agreement, which was extended through May 10.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal