The National Restaurant Association has been holding its annual convention in Chicago for more than 50 years. Each May the show draws 70,000 visitors who spend $100 million in our fair town. But now high costs and equally high frustration levels mean this lucrative show may be leaving Chicago. It isn’t the only one that has considered or is contemplating a defection. The giant hardware show has split in two and the larger faction met this year in Las Vegas.
Chicago is still a convention powerhouse. But its labor costs, maddening work rules and lack of transparency in show management are threatening the business. If you think that’s not a big deal, consider this: Chicago draws 30 million visitors a year. They contribute $8.5 billion to the local economy, pay nearly $500 million in taxes and generate 128,000 jobs. Nearly half of those 30 million people come on business.
Workplace reforms that will bring down costs and improve service at McCormick Place and the city’s other convention venues are critical. They must be radical, deep and ongoing if Chicago is to remain at the top. Mayor Richard Daley and Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Thursday convened a summit of all the players to tackle this. They’re focusing on the right target.
Six years ago, the city and McCormick Place operators convinced labor to make some concessions. But they didn’t go nearly far enough. The changes helped only the smallest exhibitors and left in place the most vexing work-rule and overtime issues. And the momentum to keep working on this dissipated over time.
Because of that, exhibitors still must deal with five separate, often warring, unions; pay overtime before 8 a.m., after 4:30 p.m. and on weekends; pay for union help for even the simplest tasks; and deal with confusing multiple layers of show management. All that leads to costs that are 30 percent higher here than the average for other cities.
Here’s what must be done:
– The five unions must cooperate so that exhibitors can get one-stop shopping for their union labor. One point person for everything. That’s how it is done in other cities. Exhibitors must also be given flexibility to do their own simple tasks, such as uncrating boxes. Overtime rules and union-mandated crew sizes must be revamped, so that exhibitors don’t perceive that they’re being ripped off.
– Show management must be simplified and made transparent, so it’s clear who’s charging for what. Some shows have up to three different layers of management contractors on top of McCormick Place itself. Labor says that the cost concessions it has made may be profiting those contractors, instead of saving money for the exhibitors.
– The mayor and the governor must keep the pressure on. Convening a summit and then going back to business as usual is unacceptable. Making real progress will require fighting some contentious turf battles. Nothing will happen if the people at the table don’t get a sense of urgency from the folks at the top.
Chicago stands to win if this can be fixed. The city has abundant charms, a central location and the highest-skilled labor in the nation. Now it needs to prove again that it is the city that works.
