the November 2009 Issue in PDF Format - Trade Show Executive

news
Freeman, GES File NLRB Complaints
over San Jose Exclusive
By Hil Anderson, senior editor
San Jose, CA – Freeman and GES
Exposition Services have filed complaints
with the National Labor Relations
Board (NLRB) about the exclusive labor
agreement granted to a Teamsters local at
San Jose’s McEnery Convention Center.
Freeman filed three separate
complaints and GES filed one complaint
between August 31 and October 1 that all
revolved around the agreement that made
Teamsters Local 287 the sole source of
workers at the convention center.
The controversial agreement was
put into effect August 1 by Team San
Jose, the not-for-profit organization that
manages the convention center. The
agreement cut out Teamsters Local 85 in
San Francisco, which had also provided
workers to the convention center.
Several leading trade show industry
associations, including the International
Association of Exhibitions & Events
(IAEE), Society of Independent Show
Organizers (SISO) and Exhibition
Services & Contractors Association
(ESCA), objected on the
grounds the deal with
Local 287 conflicted
with their existing
contracts that included
Local 85.
There was no
immediate comment
from Freeman, GES
or Team San Jose. The
NLRB has not made any rulings on the
complaints, which are as follows:
• August 31: Freeman contends the
labor deal is aimed at giving Local
287 a monopoly on convention
center work at the expense of
Freeman employees from Local 85.
• September 4: GES says it had been
“threatened, coerced and restrained” by
officials of Local 85 to hire its members
rather than workers from Local 287.
• September 22: Freeman contends
the labor agreement is illegal because
Team San Jose recognized Local
287 as the sole representative of
convention center workers without
San Jose McEnery Convention Center
an election. It noted that president of
Local 287 has a seat on the Team San
Jose board.
• October 1: Freeman alleges that
Local 287 improperly accepted
recognition from Team San Jose and
required workers to join Local 287.
Reach Dan Fenton, CEO of Team San Jose,
at (408) 792-4107 or dfenton@sanjose.
org; H. Tor Christensen, esquire, Littler
Mendelson (representing Freeman) at (202)
789-3406 or htchristensen@littler.com;
John D. McLachlan, esquire, Fisher & Phillips
(representing GES) at (415) 490-9001 or
jmclachlan@laborlawyers.com
International Dairy Show Becomes an Annual Event
By Hil Anderson, senior editor
Chicago, IL – Worldwide Food Expo, the
biennial co-located trade show held in
Chicago by the American Meat Institute
(AMI) and International Dairy Foods
Association (IDFA), took its final bow
this Fall as the two associations launched
plans for separate events.
The IDFA will launch the new annual
version of the International Dairy Show
September 13-15 in Dallas, and will
book venues for future shows based
on competitive pricing. The AMI’s
next International Meat, Poultry & Seafood
Industry Convention and Exposition will
return to McCormick Place as a standalone
Spring event on April 13-16, 2011.
The final Worldwide Food Expo
concluded at McCormick Place on
October 31. More than 21,000 attendees
and 700 exhibitors were on-hand and the
exhibit floor topped 300,000 net square
feet (nsf). The numbers were roughly
the same as the 2007 show, but down
from approximately 400,000 nsf in 2005,
according to the IDFA.
The World Dairy Expo, which caters
more to dairy farmers, spanned 446,900
nsf in 2007 and was ranked No. 42 on
the 2008 Trade Show Executive Gold 100
rankings.
Both the AMI and IDFA said
the changes were supported by their
exhibitors and members. Pre-show
research by the IDFA indicated that its
attendees and exhibitors liked the idea of
moving to a lower-cost city and switching
to an annual format that would improve
the sense of community within the dairy
processing industry and keep up with
the current rapid pace in technology
development.
“With the new show, we will be
able to focus on the topics, issues
and products dairy professionals care
about most,” said IDFA President &
CEO Connie Tipton. “It will provide
the learning, networking and trade
Continued on page 8
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