We’re thrilled that the G-8 and NATO will come to Chicago next year. But we’d be even happier if the Car Care World Expo would come back to town.
International summits? A wonderful thing for Chicago’s pride.
But trade shows pump life into the city every year. They pour billions of dollars into our economy and support thousands of Chicago jobs. We are at grave risk of losing that money and those jobs.
Trade shows are running away from Chicago because they’re tired of getting gouged on the cost of doing business here. Last year, alarmed Illinois legislators hustled to pass a state law to assure the shows that the price-gouging would end.
But U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman ruled in March that the new state rules violated federal labor law. Last Wednesday, he refused to stay his decision while it’s heard on appeal.
Folks, we’re in a fix here.
One way or another, Illinois must protect its vital interest in conventions and tourism.
The state law curbed some of the unjustified and self-defeating costs associated with organized labor at the sprawling Chicago convention center. New practices went into effect in August, giving exhibitors more freedom to set up their own booths while limiting union overtime and crew sizes.
The law, long overdue and desperately needed, proved its merit in the marketplace. Show organizers deeply appreciated the cost savings. Bookings soared. Negative sentiment about Chicago’s suitability as a trade-show venue got swept away.
But union leaders challenged the law in court, leading to Guzman’s ruling. McCormick Place asked Guzman for a stay, then had to wait while the judge took two months to decide whether to grant it.
Now this will go to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
But trade shows aren’t going to stand still. They can go to other cities. They
will
go to other cities if they think they’re going to be ripped off in Chicago. They’re making decisions now about where to take their business in the next year, two years, three years. The Car Care Show, lured back from Las Vegas by the McCormick Place reforms, decided against holding its 2013 show in Chicago after all because of labor-cost uncertainty.
That uncertainty about the cost of doing business in Chicago is going to be crippling.
We hope the Seventh Circuit issues a stay of Guzman’s decision and ultimately reverses it, upholding the state reforms. If it doesn’t, the state law will need to be fixed promptly to make it compatible with federal labor law. If it can’t be fixed, then Illinois needs a Plan B to ensure the cost savings continue and McCormick Place is a viable place to do business.
It was gratifying to see all four House and Senate leaders, Gov. Pat Quinn and Mayor Rahm Emanuel promise in a letter to exhibitors that they will get the job done.
One suggestion that was floated last week: shift the union workers at McCormick Place from the private sector to public sector. Make them public employees. That would answer Guzman’s reason for rejecting the law. But are we really going to create a new class of government workers?
Whatever it takes. Better union rules are only the beginning. To remain a world-class convention venue, Chicago needs to make sure exhibitors and attendees get good value at every turn. That means reining in operating costs unrelated to trade-union rules. It means improving the McCormick Place experience by tying together the convention floor with mobile applications and social-media innovations.
McCormick Place can’t go back to the bad old days of Gouge City.
