The current efforts to “reform” operations at the Chicago convention centers may be viewed as an attempt by the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority to become a “middleman”–extracting a 10 to 15 percent margin from Chicago labor by employing the journeymen itself (“4 union contracts at risk at shows,” Business, Oct. 30).
This will ultimately increase the cost of labor at McCormick Place, as contractors (who would then buy labor from the authority) struggle to operate within the reduced operating margins. The resulting struggle will only lead to an increase in what the contractors charge the exhibitors.
This “reform” notion stems from the recent action by New York City to hire and resell labor to contractors for the exhibitors. In New York, there was a need to eliminate corruption and mobster ties by this action.
Chicago is not New York City. Chicago convention labor is not corrupt and does not dictate this change. Chicago has the premier labor force in the country.
