Labor board rules against Carpenters and teamsters in Convention Center dispute

A teamster protests outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center at their contracts were canceled in May. Credit: Charles Mostoller/Metro

The National Labor Relations Board Philadelphia regional office has dismissed union claims that the Pennsylvania Convention Center acted in “bad faith” when it ended their contracts in May.

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) region 4 director Dennis Walsh issued the decision on Monday stating that “further proceedings are unwarranted” in this dispute, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported.

In May, the Convention Center ended contracts with Carpenters Local 8 and Teamsters Local 107 after they did not sign new contracts by a May 5 deadline.

The unions protested, claiming they believed they had until May 10 to sign the new contracts.

The Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Credit: Rikard Larma / Metro

Four other unions signed the new contracts in time to keep working at the convention center, Electricians Local 98, Laborers Local 332 and the Stagehands Local 8 and Iron Workers 405.

The contracts changed operating procedures to include a standard drug-testing program for union workers and to allow exhibitors to set up their own booths using their own full-time employees instead of the center’s union workers. The booth can also be up to 600 square feet, twice the previous maximum size.

This decision is not final. The Carpenters’ and Teamsters’ unions can still appeal this NLRB decision to an administrative judge, then to the NLRB in Washington, D.C., then to a federal appeals court and eventually to the U.S. Supreme Court.