PHILADELPHIA
Labor troubles continue to hound the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, where two shut-out unions were protesting Monday as the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology began registration at the venue, an event expected to host about 1,100 attendees.
While the Convention Center was recently able to reach a working agreement with four of its six major partner unions–through a contract allowing greater freedom for exhibitors to set up their own spaces–two unions remain frozen out after reputedly missing the deadline on the aforementioned agreement.
The pair of unions, Teamsters Local 107 and Carpenters Local 8 made their presence felt Monday morning, particularly the Teamsters, with both groups contending they were misinformed about the deadline on the new working agreement.
Convention Center representatives have stated the new union agreements were put in place to make events more appealing and economically friendly to potential exhibiting groups.
Meetings Focus will provide updates to the situation as it continues to evolve.
