Convention Center Accuses Union Of Doing Damage At Auto Show

PHILADELPHIA - The 2015 Philadelphia Auto Show is in the books, but not without a little controversy, and that centers on a local union and the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

FOX 29's Jeff Cole reports he's been told convention center management is compiling video, still photos and statements from exhibitors at the car show to lay out the case that the carpenters union damaged vehicles on display Saturday – in what may have been the biggest day in the show's history.

Center management says it started in the early afternoon when as many as 200 members of the union bought tickets in bulk and entered the auto show.

The union confirms its members were inside the show to hand out fliers about its ongoing labor dispute with the center, where they're no longer allowed to work.

Center management says it has reports that the union members stole knobs, pulled fuses and littered in the cars on display, among other acts.

Center management says it will go to law enforcement if it gathers evidence the actions were criminal.

Lorenz Hassenstein, the convention center's general manager, said, "We saw an organized attempt, a number of acts that we thought were unlawful: waves of carpenters coming through the building, distributing fliers; getting in cars, they wouldn't get out of cars for the next guest to get in; they were pulling buttons and knobs off things; they were pulling plastic bits and pieces off underneath the engine compartment or different parts; they were being very rough with the vehicles in different booths."

Convention center lawyers actually got a temporary restraining order from a judge Saturday, barring the carpenters from vandalizing or destructing cars at the auto show.

The carpenters refused to speak on camera.

In a statement, the union says it was exerting its First Amendment rights to peacefully protest their unfair lockout at the convention center.

A union spokesperson denies there was any vandalism.

Center management says this was planned by the union. It claims it has obtained a map laying out how it was to be done, Cole reported.

Last week, a Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board hearing examiner threw out the union's latest complaint, saying the PLRB didn't have jurisdiction. That led to cancellation of hearings scheduled for this week.

Edward Coryell Jr., leader of the Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters, said he "vehemently disagrees" with that decision.

The union went on to launch a new website last week, FairDealPhilly.com, targeting the convention center and its marketing partners.

YouTube video shows that union members were also out in force to protest at the auto show's annual black tie gala.

Source: Fox 29