Labor Agreement, Hotel Upgrades Boosts Illinois Tourism

Chicago's trade show industry sighed with relief yesterday with the joint announcement by Gov. Pat Quinn and Mayor Rahm Emanuel that unions representing workers at the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority have agreed to work rule changes.

The two unions had sued over exhibitor-friendly work rules the General Assembly ordered last year. In March, a federal judge sided with the unions and threw out some of the reforms on the grounds that the Legislature was overstepping its authority.

The judge’s ruling threw the convention business into an uproar. Some show managers threatened to cancel bookings at McCormick Place, citing a fear of escalating costs.

With the new deal, the unions and McPier, as the McCormick Place board is commonly called, will agree to end the litigation.

McPier now can put in place an “exhibitors’ bill of rights” that lets show managers and exhibitors set up their own booths with simple tools. Exhibitors also can drive and unload their own vehicles at McCormick Place, and union work can be done by two-person crews instead of the old minimum of three.

The effort to change the work rules and preserve Chicago's trade show status has been in the works for two years now.

Meanwhile Emanuel's office also announced that Chicago hotels are pledging $500 million in rehabs and upgrades "to help bolster the local convention industry as city leaders strive to attract more trade shows."

Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office made the announcement Friday. Hotels making commitments include the Chicago Hilton, Hyatt Regency Chicago, Strategic Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (Fairmont Chicago and InterContinental Chicago hotels) and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (W. Weston and Sheraton hotels).

Emanuel also wants to increase the city's bed tax by 1 percentage point, jacking it up to 4.5 percent. When state and other bed taxes are included it would make Chicago's overall rate to 16.4 percent, one of the top three in the country.

It doesn't seen like it, but the moves will help tourism throughout the state, including Southern Illinois. Chicago convention business is the single biggest factor in the state's bed tax receipts. When Chicago hurts there's less money for tourism promotions throughout the state, less money for state's tourism grants that help fund local tourism bureaus, marketing campaigns and development projects.

Chicago Man Pushing for Urban Winery in Windy City

The Illinois wine industry that for the most part remains nestled in the hills at the edge of the state, whether up near Galena or down in the Shawnee Hills, may soon its first urban competitor.

Chicago redeveloper Bill Lavicka wants to take an 19th Century country mansion in the Washington Park neighborhood of Chicago and turn it into a winery, complete with locally-grown grapes planted on what's now city-owned vacant blocks. The Chicago Tribune has the story.

 

Quinn Plays High Stakes Game of Chicken with Chicago Tourism

Rich Miller of Capitol Fax and others are reporting that Gov. Pat Quinn will file an amendatory veto of the McCormick Place reform bill. The bill covers a lot of ground in the operations of Chicago's main exposition and conference center.

While those trade shows don't directly affect Southern Illinois tourism, it's the convention market in Chicago that funds the lion share of the state's bed tax collections, that in turn funds tourism throughout the state.

In other words, if Chicago suffers, we too will suffer eventually. Having both attended conferences at McCormick Place as well as worked as an exhibitor I've heard plenty of horror stories to know that reform is needed.

Now major trade shows that have been in Chicago for decades are threatening to pull out for bigger venues in Vegas or Orlando. The reform bill passed unanimously in both chambers, yes there is bipartisan votes on major issues in Springfield, they're rare, but they do occasionally exist.

Now Quinn wants changes in labor rules to the benefit of the unions (which lost in the bill), better succession rules in place (which isn't a bad idea), and a repeal in the doubling of the taxi tax on cab fares originating at O'Hare or Midway airports.

The existing tax already funds McCormick Place operations. Three-quarters of the new tax will fund Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau promotions for big conventions and trade shows and the remaining to fund promotions of the big shows at the Rosemont Convention Center near O'Hare, which is the region's second major exhibition hall.

Miller says lawmakers will likely override the veto. The question is whether the governor will go through with the veto and return it back to the legislature in time for a second vote.

It's a big enough economic deal for Chicago that the Democratic leadership are expected to keep lawmakers in session to deal with it. The big trade shows have already thrown down deadlines for action before they take their show elsewhere.