Professional tool reviews for the average Joe: We're not out to alienate unions or make any specific commentary about pro- or anti-union affiliation, but a recent occurrence in Philadelphia reinforced the importance of common sense and clear lines of communication when union issues are involved. Pennsylvania's Convention Center recently underwent an overhaul to bring its total usable floor space to just over two million square feet. And when we say "overhaul" we mean to the tune of 3/4 of a billion dollars. That's a very big deal. So you'd think that with expansion of that type, the convention center would do all that it could to encourage business and convention use and traffic and bring in new organizations to recoup the costs.
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This just doesn't make any sense! By being ridiculously inflexible and stubborn (as though no one else knows how to safely use a power tool), the union lost a ton of work for its members in this situation. The client was not making an unreasonable request; by having an unrealistic union agreement, the convention center lost their business. The convention center needed to be a little more hard-hitting with the union and make it clear to them that if they didn't concede on the matter they could BOTH lose the work-- and the income. While I do commend the convention center for coming up with a reasonable compromise, it seems that they didn't realize how serious their potential client was about completely removing the clause. The Pennsylvania Convention Center is going to have to seriously re-work their union contract if they want to make any of their money back. Either the convention center has an underlying issue that causes the union members to behave so poorly and stubbornly when working for it, of the union members need to stop being so stubborn and realize that they're not going to get as much work at the convention center if they continue on in this manner.
This article is a lesson in what happens when communication breaks down. If this clause had been identified, and properly handled, then the convention center might have actually undergone the renovation and not lost millions of dollars worth of business. Also, this union gives unions a bad name. People have worked hard to form unions for safe working conditions, but this union was under some serious misconception that power tools used for building convention booths would put them in serious danger. Yes, using an electric drill is dangerous (to some extent), but so is driving a car, using the oven, and smoking cigarettes. There are some states that have banned state workers from having unions. Many companies refuse to even entertain unions. This union needs to get their act together if they want to survive in this world where unions are looked down upon.
Alright, I think I see the intention behind this rule: If multiple customers have, in the past, arrived expecting union workers to complete work on exhibits that was not complete before leaving the shop or to fix exhibit pieces broken at the previous venues (especially if that work is not in any kind of previously expressed contract) I could understand the CC attempting to limit that expectation in some way.
But to blanket over the ENTIRE prospect of using ANY powered tools whatsoever seems too much overkill. Unions ARE there to protect the workers but the workers are there to do a job and if they can't do that job then why is the union there?
It's unfortunate that a such a loss occurred because of that strange section of the Customer Satisfaction Agreement (a title I find pretty ironic). I fully support Interphex's decision to go to another conference facility, as it is incidences such as these that cause organizations to make changes to provide better services. Although it's unfortunate that this was a loss of potential income, hopefully it means Philadelphia's convention center will make the changes necessary to keep it from happening again.
To me this article acts as a warning about pushing the limits of a business deal to far. It's important that both sides come to agreement and, but also that both sides try to make the other happy and comfortable along the way. If the union/convention center had just thought about the effects their demands were having on the users of the center then this loss of $15 million may not have happened. In the play Mother Courage there is a famous line "I may have bargained to long" I think this sums up how the PA Convention Center is feeling right about now.
Instead of just renovating the building the PA Convention Center needs to also update their ideas about how to treat their customers.
That is very interesting that some group in the middle of negotiations about coming to the convention center or telling them why they choose someone else or where else they went. If the reason is because of people in the convention not being able to use a screw gun that is pretty dumb on the union part for saying we can’t make an exception and now they are out of their work. I hope that when the convention center goes for renewal with their unions that they play hard and make them budge because of them loosing this large amount of money and possibly losing this contract. I hope that this sets a good example for the future and what convention centers should do to negotiate to their unions.
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