Another Victory For Pennsylvania Convention Center In Dispute With Two Unions

By Pat Loeb

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Pennsylvania Convention Center has won another round against the Carpenters and Teamsters unions. The state Labor Relations Board declined to hear the unions' complaint.

The Carpenters and Teamsters challenged the process that has left them shut out of work at the center since May. The Convention Center set a deadline for unions to sign a customer service agreement. Four unions signed but the Carpenters and Teamsters did not. They said they thought their deadline was different and appealed first to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which declined to hear the complaint saying it lacked jurisdiction, then to the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB), where a hearing examiner has ruled it also has no jurisdiction. Carpenters spokesman Marty O'Rourke finds that contradictory.

"The Carpenters vehemently disagree with this decision," O'Rourke says. "They will continue to protest outside the Convention Center. They will continue to protest this unfair lockout until their members are allowed back in the Convention Center and back in their jobs."

But Convention Center president John McNichol welcomes the decision.

"We have been saying for months now we believe we are operating fairly" McNichol says, "and also within the law."

The unions will have 20 days to appeal once the written decision is issued.