Windy City Labor Gets a Bit Friendlier

Riggers, contractors sign 5-year agreement aimed at easing exhibition costs

By Rachelle Crum -- Tradeshow Week, 5/29/2006

A Chicago labor reform agreement was announced four days before the May 20 opening of the Natl. Restaurant Assn. Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show at McCormick Place.

Sound familiar? A similar announcement came just days before the opening of the Natl. Restaurant Assn. show last year at the venue.

A coincidence? Possibly. Chicago officials say the changes will benefit every McCormick Place customer, large and small — and many show managers agree.

However, considering that Mary Pat Heftman, senior vice president of the NRA, has in recent years told Chicago officials to shape up or she'll ship out her 75,000-attendee show — and that the Windy City in recent weeks has been portrayed by the national press as losing its convention-industry edge — the deja vu may not be an accident.

The 5-year collective bargaining agreement that McCormick Place owner and operator Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority announced was between two major service contractors, Freeman and GES Exposition Services, and the Riggers Union Local 136, whose members transport equipment and displays from loading docks to the showfloor and help exhibitors set up and dismantle displays.

The contract, which takes effect June 1, includes regulations that:

• reduce overtime charges;
• include clearly defined language on reduced crew sizes;
• permit show exhibitors to ask for Local 136 workers by name for the majority of their crew members; and
• allow contractors to employ one apprentice for every five journeymen.

More specifically, the contract establishes three start times for crews Monday through Friday, with the first eight hours at straight time. The new weekday start times are 8 a.m., 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Saturdays will now be charged at time and a half instead of double time and a significant amount of in-booth work that previously required three workers will now only require two.

The new agreement also includes wage and benefit increases (12.8 percent the first year) for the 300-plus union members.

Chicago industry officials and some show managers laud the new contract and say Chicago is shedding its reputation as a tough union city.

"These are enlightened union leaders who recognize that we have to work together to grow this industry and keep it strong," MPEA Chairman Theodore Tetzlaff said.

Tim Roby, who took his post as president of the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau two months ago, said the agreement is critical "for those of us on the front lines of marketing this great city and its convention facilities."

Eric Dean, administrator of Local 136, said the agreement "is in the best interest of both the riggers and Chicago's convention industry."

The agreement is the result of last May's initial reform announcement, which allowed exhibitors to do more in-booth work, established that crew sizes would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, introduced an audit process to review bills submitted by service contractors to organizers, and established a labor management council, said MPEA CEO Leticia Peralta Davis.

Davis said MPEA believes the riggers contract "will set a precedent for future labor agreements and other changes that will foster a new culture of competition at McCormick Place."

The riggers contract was to expire at the end of June, coinciding with the expiration date for the decorators union contract. Contracts with Teamsters and carpenters union locals expire in 2008.

Barbara Voss, show director of the triennial NPE: the Intl. Plastics Showcase, scheduled at McCormick Place June 19–23, said the new riggers contract has been "a long time coming."

She added, "I hope for Chicago's sake that more shows that have left Chicago for labor reasons come back. We don't want to leave, but our committee talks about it after every show."

Voss said the fact that the contract is for five years will especially benefit her exhibitors. The former riggers contract ended in 2003, on her show's first day of move-out.

"We had some terrible, terrible experiences," she said. If it was again a three-year contract, "we would have come up against it in 2009."

The show, which ranked No. 3 on the Tradeshow Week 200 in 2003, is expected to draw 75,000 attendees.

Another large Chicago show, the biennial Intl. Manufacturing Technology Show, No. 3 on the TSW 200 in 2004, will occur Sept. 6–13 at the venue.

"There's no bad time for positive actions," said Peter Eelman, vice president of exhibitions for show owner AMT — the Assn. for Manufacturing Technology. He believes the agreement will help the Chicago industry, especially with McCormick Place West opening in fall 2007.

"As you look to the future and you're opening a new building, you can start selling positives instead of apologizing for the negatives," Eelman said.

Although IMTS is now only booked at McCormick Place four more times between now and 2012, he said his association is committed to Chicago. The show has taken place there since the 1940s.

Graph Expo and Converting Expo is another Chicago mainstay, said Graphic Arts Show Vice President Chris Thiel. However, he isn't such a fan of the new riggers contract.

While the smaller crew size is appealing, he said, the riggers wage increase is "obscene" and "a little discouraging." And he described the new contract specifics as "a shell game."

John Patronski, executive vice president of industry development for GES, said the other measures make up for the increased wages.

"You're taking a full person out of that crew size and, even if those other two laborers or riggers receive an increase," there are still significant savings to the exhibitor, he said.

Natl. Restaurant Assn. spokesman Greg Kirrish called the riggers contract "definitely a concrete, positive step in the right direction." However, he added, "It's just one part of the whole picture."

According to the NRA, the restaurant industry is the largest private-sector employer and the fastest-growing industry in the nation. The May 20–23 show, with around 2,100 exhibitors, sold out its exhibit space for the first time in 20 years and attracted a visit from President George W. Bush.

As of press time, Kirrish said the group was waiting for a written response from the city of Chicago and the MPEA about its requests for lower hotel rates and additional exhibitor savings before it made any announcement about the future of the show.

Roby said the CCTB continues "to work with our hotels to ensure all customers have access to the necessary accommodations, especially when shows like the Natl. Restaurant Assn. continue to grow. More than 3,000 new hotel rooms are expected to come online over the next three years, so we expect to meet the housing needs for the Natl. Restaurant Show now and in the future."