Trade shows and their exhibitors at McCormick Place could be guaranteed a basic set of rights and show floor work rules aimed at cost reduction.
That would mean that contractors and union workers who want the right to work the shows would have to accept those rules, according to recommendations expected to be issued soon by the state legislative committee that is examining how to make Chicago’s convention business more competitive with lower-cost rivals, reported the Chicago Tribune.
Exhibitors’ rights likely would include greater ability to set up booths and displays, including the use of some power tools and ladders. Show floor labor rules likely would reduce the size of various work crews and the number of union stewards working the halls, while at the same time expanding the hours when workers would be paid straight time. That move would reduce time-and-a-half and double-time pay. The thinking is that these terms would supersede terms in collective bargaining agreements between the two major show contractors, Freeman and Global Experience Specialists and the unions that work the shows.
