After two days of testimony, hearings on
whether the Pennsylvania Convention Center officials retaliated against union
carpenters ended Wednesday morning nowhere near a resolution.
"This is an important case," Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board hearing
examiner Jack E. Marino told lawyers for the Convention Center and Northeast
Regional Council of Carpenters. "There are a lot of big issues"
beyond the facts, particularly whether the case belongs before the PLRB.
Marino set long deadlines for post-hearing briefs, with
the parties allowed at least 150 days to file briefs and replies. He said it
was important to create a clear record, since it is likely that the
jurisdiction issue eventually will wind up in Commonwealth Court. Any ruling
that Marino makes on the facts can be appealed to the full PLRB.
In May 2014, after failing to sign a new customer
satisfaction agreement by a quick deadline, the carpenters union lost its
jurisdiction in the center. By the time the union's leader
signed, the carpenters' work had been divided among other unions.
The carpenters filed an unfair practice charge with the
PLRB, saying the center engineered the quick-deadline scenario to push the
carpenters out in retaliation for two strikes and for the carpenters' union
trying to protect its members' work, which would have been eroded under the
customer satisfaction agreement.
The Convention Center denied that, saying the strikes
forced them to act quickly, drawing up a new agreement to reassure fleeing and
potential customers that ongoing labor and management issues at the center
would be resolved.
A separate federal racketeering lawsuit filed against the
union by the Convention Center is pending.
Source: Philly.com
No comments:
Post a Comment