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Labor: Fix broken McCormick business model |
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Tony DeGrado, President of Steelworkers Local 17 (Decorators) writes in a letter to the editor in this week's Crain's Chicago Business that the business model used by the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority to manage McCormick Place and Navy Pier is badly broken and threatening the industry in Chicago: The business model needs reform. Unlike competitors in Orlando and Las Vegas, McCormick Place is not heavily subsidized by taxpayers. Consequently, the MPEA uses its electrical-utility and food beverage services to produce revenue for administrative operations.
Las Vegas and Orlando, Chicago's biggest competition in the convention and tourism industry, receive large state subsidies to offset operational costs, allowing them to provide services at lower costs. In the last fifteen years, organized labor has made significant contract changes in order to lower the cost for customers and to retain business in Chicago. However, the high costs of services such as drayage (materials handling and storage), exhibit floor space and food are cited by exhibitors and show managers as reasons for searching for cheaper alternatives. DeGrado calls for transparency of the costs:
Transparency is the key to educating exhibitors about actual costs of a convention and, ultimately, compelling service providers to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
The unions at McCormick Place and Navy Pier have previously called for greater transparency of the prices charged to customers and for a customer bill of rights to help make operating a trade show easier for exhibitors and show managers.
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AFL-CIO kicks off jobs campaign |
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From Workers Independent News; listen here
By Doug Cunningham [Pedrotty]: “Millions of people are out of work today because Wall Street played Russian Roulette with our economy and our future. So the AFL-CIO will be holding more than two hundred rallies and demonstrations across the country where we’re calling on the biggest banks to pay to replace the jobs that they destroyed.” AFL-CIO Director of Investments Dan Pedrotty. While jobs creation is critical, Pedrotty says this is about much more than just jobs. The entire financial system must be reformed. Pedrotty says so far not nearly enough has been done by Congress and the Obama administration to actually deliver the economic reforms needed to help unemployed workers now and into the future. [Pedrotty 2]: “Not nearly enough to get at the scale of the crisis. We need to create eleven million jobs to address what is record unemployment in our economy. The jobs bills are a good start, but it’s like putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. We need to do much, much more. And people are frankly hurting out there.” |
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Unions, worker centers join forces |
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Representatives from Chicago area unions, worker centers and legal practices came together on Thursday to discuss changes to federal laws that affect the rights of workers, particularly the area's large immigrant worker population. More than 100 men and women gathered to discuss changes to the law, proposed changes and best practices for protecting the rights of workers under federal programs such as Social Security No-Match and E-Verify which are grossly inaccurate. The event was sponsored by the Chicago Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO and University of Illinois Labor Education
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