GMCS Editorial: While it is easy to focus on the negative here,
that is that a job action has taken place, we should give credit to all of
those in labor and management that have recognized the importance and significance
of the Pennsylvania Convention Center to the region and have committed their time
and expertise to this process.
Worth noting here is
that some labor leaders in the region have continued to support the Pennsylvania
Convention Center and have committed their members to working through this process,
without disruption to the center and its valued guests. As these articles state, “Other unions
representing workers at the center have continued extending their agreements as
talks continued. “ This is a very
positive indication sign of good faith by labor and it is my hope that it
continues.
Best wishes to both
labor and management on working together, through and past this disagreement and
towards a mutually acceptable agreement that benefits the Pennsylvania
Convention Center’s guests, our region and its committed labor workforce.
UPDATE: Carpenters union leader (and Pa. Convention Center
board member) Ed Coryell Sr., on the events leading up to this afternoon's work
stoppage by members of Local 8 at the sprawling exhibition halls:
After several weeks of tough bargaining on a new
contact, "at 1:30 this morning a
tentative agreement was reached. We were supposed to meet at 12 o'clock (today,
with Center bosses) to sign it." Coryell, fighting a cold, had left senior
union officers in charge of talks; Bob McClintock of management firm SMG and
Center CEO John McNichol represented management.
"But when McClintock and John McNichol took it back
(this morning, to the Center board's) customer satisfaction subcommittee, the
tentative agreement was rejected. At noon, we're waiting, and nobody shows up
from the Center or SMG" to sign the deal. "We called. They said, 'We
need an extension.' We said, 'We had a deal!' We had no choice, so we put
pickets up at 1. That's the story."
So who moves next, the Carpenters or the bosses? "Good
question. We're ready and willing to negotiate. I've been saying for months,
'Please don't let this go down to the wire. Let's not wait til April 30.' And,
you know, that's exactly what they did?"
What's at stake in this fight? "They want this crazy
stuff. They want exhibitors to use power tools, which we are not going to allow.
They want to double the size of the booths exhibitors can erect on their own.
It's currently 300 square feet." Despite management claims to the
contrary, Coryell says labor rules are already more pro-union at New York's
Javits Center and halls in Washington and Baltimore.
Bottom line for the Carpenters' elected leader: "I'm
trying to protect my members and not lose jobs."
ALSO: There are no plans to cancel any events at the
Pennsylvania Convention Center as a result of the work dispute, Deirdre C. Hopkins,
spokeswoman for facility manager SMG, told me.
EARLIER: Striking Carpenters resisting planned work-rule
changes they fear could cut members' hours picketed the Pennsylvania Convention
Center entrance at 11th and Race Sts. today, slowing the scheduled dismantling
of a medical convention, as talks broke down between union leaders, and the
state-owned center and its newly-privatized management team.
In a statement, Convention Center bosses said Carpenters
Local 8 had walked out on talks after months of discussions with SMG, the
Conshohocken company that replaced city-appointed managers last fall.
SMG and members of the Center's board, which includes
politically-connected representatives of state, city, suburban and union
interests, "have provided ample evidence to union leadership that work
rule changes in Chicago and other venues have benefitted unions by attracting
more business and customers, resulting in more work hours for union members,”
board authority chairman Gregory J. Fox, a lawyer, said in a statement. He
added that "the Carpenters are hurting their own membership and tens of
thousands" of hotel and restaurant jobs that depend on center events.
Coryell, who is secretary-treasurer of the Carpenters'
Philadelphia-area union council, has said his union brothers won't agree to
cuts that result in fewer hours or less pay for members. The Carpenters have
led opposition to changes that could cost workers money. Management says the
workers will end up with more hours and more pay because the rules will attract
more shows to the underused center.
Other unions representing workers at the center have
continued extending their agreements as talks continued.
SMG has been trying to get the Carpenters to agree to a
"revised customer service agreement with modified work rules that make it
easier for customers to do business at the Center,” John McNichol, a Harrisburg
lobbyist named president and CEO of the board earlier this year, added in a
statement. He said Philadelphia's work rules are less favorable to trade show
managers, and boost costs, compared to other cities.
According to the board's statement, the Center "is
currently hosting the American Academy of Neurology, a citywide convention of
13,000 attendees, which is expected to generate a $35 million economic impact
for the region." The convention ends Saturday. "Events scheduled in
the building over the next week include the Broad Street Run, Konami, the
American Cancer Society, and Commonwealth Connections."
The Carpenters' contract with the center's former labor
manager, Elliott Lewis Convention Services, ran out April 30. The center is
seeking new contracts and customer-service agreements with the Carpenters and
five other unions: Laborers’ International Local 332, Stagehands Local 8, IBEW
Local 98, Teamsters Local 107, Iron Workers Local 405.
The Teamsters and Laborers locals and John Dougherty's Local
98 today agreed to extend their contracts so talks can continue at least a few
more days, Pete Peterson, a spokesman for the Center, told me. The Carpenters,
he said, "are the only union on strike."
Source: Philly.com
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