PHILADELPHIA
UPDATE: The Pennsylvania Convention Center announced that Carpenters Union Local 8 has signed an extension of their collective bargaining agreement through May 10, ending a brief strike by the union. Read the latest article for more info.
The original article can be found below:
Following months of discussions with labor unions about the need to make the Pennsylvania Convention Center more competitive on a national scale, negotiations between management of the Center and labor unions broke down Thursday, May 1, with Carpenters Local 8 walking out on talks and going on strike.
“Over the course of months of discussions, the Center and our management team at SMG 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,” said Gregory J. Fox, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority (PCCA). “It is important for everyone to look to the future and move past the current policies that have hindered the Center’s growth and success. I am concerned that the Carpenters are hurting their own membership and tens of thousands of hospitality jobs in the region that rely on the major shows and events hosted by the Center.”
“One of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority’s top priorities has been a revised customer service agreement with modified work rules that make it easier for customers to do business at the Center,” said John McNichol, President and CEO of the PCCA. “To compete effectively for major trade shows, conventions, meetings and other events, we need work rules that are comparable to other cities.”
The Carpenters are unwilling to agree to work rule changes that would provide exhibitors with greater flexibility to build their booths and displays as they can in comparable, peer facilities in other cities.
The Convention Center is currently hosting the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), a citywide convention of 13,000 attendees, which is expected to generate a $35 million economic impact for the region. The convention ends on Saturday. Center officials have met with AAN officials on a daily basis to keep them informed on the status of labor discussions and potential impacts on their event. Events scheduled in the building over the next week include the Broad Street Run, Konami, the American Cancer Society, and Commonwealth Connections.
For several months, the Convention Center Authority and SMG, which began management of the Convention Center on December 1, have met in good faith with representatives of the Convention Center’s trade unions to develop new work rules that would make the Center more attractive to customers. Trade unions operating at the Convention Center include the Carpenters Local 8; Laborers’ International Local 332; Stagehands Local 8; IBEW Local 98; Teamsters Local 107; and Iron Workers Local 405.
The Carpenters have been operating under a collective bargaining agreement with the Center’s former manager of labor services, Elliott Lewis Convention Services, LLC. An extension of that agreement expired April 30. In addition to new collective bargaining agreements, the PCCA is seeking a new Customer Service Agreement with all six unions.
“Last year, the Center hosted shows and events that generated a $729 million economic impact for the region and helped to support 90,000 jobs in the hospitality and tourism industry,” said Lorenz Hassenstein, General Manager of the Center for SMG. "These work rule changes are imperative for the long-term success of the Center, one of the region and state’s leading economic generators. They will benefit the entire region, just as they will benefit members of the Carpenters union.”
Customer feedback on the Center’s transition to SMG management has been extremely positive. However, customers have also indicated that the status quo related to work rules at the building is unacceptable. The Center has been working to aggressively address areas of customer concerns as it works enhance its ability to compete for the nation’s top shows.
In 2013, leadership of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority pledged to focus on four key initiatives to improve the competiveness of the Center. Those areas include professionalizing management and operations of the Center, putting in place an improved labor-supplier model, modernizing work rules, and improving billing transparency for customers.
Located in Center City, the Convention Center is situated at the center of Philadelphia’s many cultural offerings and world-class dining and entertainment scene. In December 2013, SMG, the nation’s leader in public facility management, assumed responsibility for managing the Convention Center.
A $787 million renovation and expansion of the Center, which received a Gold-level LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, was completed in 2011, increasing its size by 62 percent. The Center is now the 14th largest facility in the nation and features the largest exhibit space and ballroom in the Northeast. The newly renovated Center has won numerous awards and recognition, including a designation as the Best Government/Public Building of 2011 by the Engineering News Record of New York.
