When City Council issued an ultimatum to the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council to come up with minority inclusion plans for all 17 unions involved in the $700 million Convention Center expansion, many observers thought labor leaders would never bend to Council's will in that way. And early last week, events seemed to bear that out. 
Union heads failed to show up for a scheduled meeting at City Hall, and Convention Center and state officials reportedly suggested in negotiations that they could go ahead with construction with or without the Council's assent -- which would erase the Council's efforts to force the unions to increase minority membership.
But in what some called a "historic" session on Thursday at the Chamber of Commerce - arranged by Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller (pictured left with Michael Nutter) -- 15 of 17 union reps showed up for negotiations with Council members. There were between 8 and 10 council members, participants said, shuttling between two rooms. {This is how Council said it avoided breaking Sunshine Laws in December when it hammered out a Convention Center labor proposal with Mayor Street -- 9 Council members in a room constitutes a quorum and an official meeting that should be open to the public.} 
Sunshine issues aside, Council negotiators called the meeting very encouraging -- the historic part being that the two sides had a civil discussion. Building Trades chief Pat Gillespie (above) and the unions offered what Council regarded as meaningful inclusion plans and promised to provide demographic information about their members, which they had previously refused to do.
Council staff will work this week on a proposed plan that everyone can agree on, so the Council can introduce legislation Thursday. Bids for construction are supposed to go out Friday, but Gov. Rendell has said he wants the unions and council to agree on terms of a project-labor agreement before then.
What separates the sides right now are long-term plans that go beyond the Convention Center. Some are saying those plans can't be done on short notice and need to be worked out over the coming months.
Majority Leader Marian Tasco (pictured above) was not celebrating yet -- "We should have had the conversation a few weeks ago," she said. But she did say the meeting was productive. "It’s going to take some work," she said Friday. "And we’re really trying to get something worked out."
Comments (1)
What they have to understand that basically, we have a 700M building to be built and that the stakeholders (taxpayers) are expecting to see a new building go up instead of a hold in the ground and 700M vanishing in thin air.
If minority people want to join the construction fields, they must get training and meet the same kind of competency standards as the other construction men do. If one does not have competency standards, he or she will end up holding up the others waitiing for the work to be done so that they can do their work. We are not talking about free lunches for no work done.
The unions must help minority people advance up the ladder, but no social promotion and only those who have clearly earned the respect and trust by showing how well they work will be entitled to climb up the ladder.
Equally helpful is the strong declaration from the state that they can legally work without City Council if need be. And let City Council look and feel impotent as a governing authority. That is what got City Council to climb down from their rose perches and see the reality of the situation in front of them. Without this kind of toughlove from the state, City Council could have delayed the work for months until it became too expensive to proceed.
To have open communication between both parties is a big plus as it will lead to a deal benefitting all parties. I am confident that they will do the job they are supposed to do, lest the state take matters in their own hands to get the work done on the much needed convention center addition.
Posted by James Goodwin | January 27, 2008 7:30 PM
Posted on January 27, 2008 19:30