The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board hearing examiner
overseeing the unfair labor charges between the Pennsylvania Convention Center
and two of its unions has reversed his prior decision and will be scheduling
future hearings.
Jack E. Marino on Friday issued a written order reversing
his prior decision and has denied the Pennsylvania Convention Center
Authority’s motion to dismiss the charges.
"The remedy of permitting the unions' members to
enter the Center premises and return to the performance of work as outlined in
the new [customer satisfaction agreement,] which both unions signed after the
deadline, is clearly within the remedial power of the Authority," the
order said.
Hearings will be scheduled in the "near
future," Marino said in the order.
"In stepping aside because of jurisdictional issues,
the federal National Labor Relations Board found credible evidence that the
Convention Center violated the law in locking out carpenters and not letting
them return to work," said Carpenters spokesman Marty O'Rourke. "We
are confident that once all of the evidence is heard and examined by the state
PLRB, they too will agree with the NLRB and find that the PA Convention Center
violated the law and will direct them to allow carpenters to return to their
jobs."
The Convention Center says the reason for the reversal is
"unclear, which is troubling." The same opportunity was given to the
Carpenters to sign the new work rules in order to give customers more freedom
for their booths, but that the union refused, said President and CEO John
McNichol.
"Many customers have been savvy enough to include
provisions in their agreements that if the Carpenters return to the building,
they have the right to cancel their events," he said. "We remain
confident that the facts of the case which led to the initial dismissal will
ultimately lead to a finding by the PLRB in our favor."
Marino earlier this year dismissed the unfair labor
charges against the Convention Center because it ruled that it had no
jurisdiction.
In a letter written in February, Marino said that,
although the Authority was a public employer, it is not a joint employer with
labor supplier Elliott-Lewis "such that the private-sector, unionized
employees of Elliott-Lewis can bring the unfair practice claims alleged before
this board."
The two unions were shut out of the Convention Center
after failing to sign a new customer satisfaction agreement by the 11:59 p.m.,
May 5 deadline last year. The unions argue that they had until May 10, the date
of a contract extension. They maintain that they signed it by the deadline.
The new customer satisfaction agreement was an answer to
the antiquated work rules at the Convention Center that placed the city at a
competitive disadvantage due to the restraints it placed on its exhibitors. The
new work rules give exhibitors a more streamlined and cost-effective
experience.
Since the new rules were put in place, the Convention
Center has booked 28 major new show and conventions, slated to bring in
hundreds of thousands of attendees, filling more than 560,000 hotel room nights
and bringing in more than $872 million in economic impact.
Overturning the changes made at the Convention Center
could have adverse results for a hospitality industry that's starting to gain
its footing again.
"It’s no coincidence that new hotel construction is
on the rise since the new customer satisfaction agreement was approved and
bookings have increased. Any move to change the status quo would be devastating
to our industry," said Ed Grose, executive director of the Greater
Philadelphia Hotel Association.
He said the real irony is that the Carpenters are
benefiting from a lot of work for their members because of the new hotel
development in the city.
"The success of the Center and most of that new hotel
development is progressing precisely because the Carpenters are not present in
the Center," Grose said.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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