Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SB1992
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Full Text of SB1992  97th General Assembly

SB1992enr 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
SB1992 EnrolledLRB097 09282 PJG 49417 b

1    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Findings; purpose; text and revisory changes;
5validation; additional material.
6    (a) It is the purpose of this Act to reenact the provisions
7of subsection (c) of Section 5.4 of the Metropolitan Pier and
8Exposition Authority Act, which a federal district court found
9to be preempted under federal law on the grounds that it
10regulates issues protected by Section 8 of the National Labor
11Relations Act. Following the court's ruling, the parties to the
12suit resolved their dispute related to the challenged
13provisions. The reenactment of subsection (c) of Section 5.4
14implements, in part, settlement agreements made and entered
15into between the Authority and the plaintiffs that filed suit,
16the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters and the
17International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 727. The
18agreements were filed with the Secretary of State Index
19Department and designated as 97-GA-A01 and 97-GA-A02,
20respectively.
21    (b) In this Act, the base text of the reenacted Section is
22set forth as it existed at the time of the federal district
23court's decision. Striking and underscoring is used only to
24show the changes being made to that base text. The changes

 

 

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1being made to this Act are consistent with the settlement
2agreement or declarative of existing law.
 
3    Section 5. The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority
4Act is amended by reenacting and changing Section 5.4 as
5follows:
 
6    (70 ILCS 210/5.4)
7    Sec. 5.4. Exhibitor rights and work rule reforms.
 
8(a) Legislative findings.
9        (1) The Authority is a political subdivision of the
10    State of Illinois subject to the plenary authority of the
11    General Assembly and was created for the benefit of the
12    general public to promote business, industry, commerce,
13    and tourism within the City of Chicago and the State of
14    Illinois.
15        (2) The Authority owns and operates McCormick Place and
16    Navy Pier, which have collectively 2.8 million square feet
17    of exhibit hall space, 700,000 square feet of meeting room
18    space.
19        (3) The Authority is a vital economic engine that
20    annually generates 65,000 jobs and $8 billion of economic
21    activity for the State of Illinois through the trade shows,
22    conventions, and other meetings held and attended at
23    McCormick Place and Navy Pier.

 

 

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1        (4) The Authority supports the operation of McCormick
2    Place and Navy Pier through not only fees on the rental of
3    exhibit and meeting room space, electrical and utility
4    service, food and beverage services, and parking, but also
5    hotel room rates paid by persons staying at the
6    Authority-owned hotel.
7        (5) The Authority has a compelling and proprietary
8    interest in the success, competitiveness, and continued
9    viability of McCormick Place and Navy Pier as the owner and
10    operator of the convention facilities and its obligation to
11    ensure that these facilities produce sufficient operating
12    revenues.
13        (6) The Authority's convention facilities were
14    constructed and renovated through the issuance of public
15    bonds that are directly repaid by State hotel, auto rental,
16    food and beverage, and airport and departure taxes paid
17    principally by persons who attend, work at, exhibit, and
18    provide goods and services to conventions, shows,
19    exhibitions, and meetings at McCormick Place and Navy Pier.
20        (7) State law also dedicates State occupation and use
21    tax revenues to fulfill debt service obligations on these
22    bonds should State hotel, auto rental, food and beverage,
23    and airport and departure taxes fail to generate sufficient
24    revenue.
25        (8) Through fiscal year 2010, $55 million in State
26    occupation and use taxes will have been allocated to make

 

 

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1    debt service payments on the Authority's bonds due to
2    shortfalls in State hotel, auto rental, food and beverage,
3    and airport and departure taxes. These shortfalls are
4    expected to continue in future fiscal years and would
5    require the annual dedication of approximately $40 million
6    in State occupation and use taxes to fulfill debt service
7    payments.
8        (9) In 2009, managers of the International Plastics
9    Showcase announced that 2009 was the last year they would
10    host their exhibition at McCormick Place, as they had since
11    1971, because union labor work rules and electric and food
12    service costs make it uneconomical for the show managers
13    and exhibitors to use McCormick Place as a convention venue
14    as compared to convention facilities in Orlando, Florida
15    and Las Vegas, Nevada. The exhibition used over 740,000
16    square feet of exhibit space, attracted over 43,000
17    attendees, generated $4.8 million of revenues to McCormick
18    Place, and raised over $200,000 in taxes to pay debt
19    service on convention facility bonds.
20        (10) After the International Plastics Showcase
21    exhibition announced its departure, other conventions and
22    exhibitions managers and exhibitors also stated that they
23    would not return to McCormick Place and Navy Pier for the
24    same reasons cited by the International Plastics Showcase
25    exhibition. In addition, still other managers and
26    exhibitors stated that they would not select McCormick

 

 

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1    Place as a convention venue unless the union labor work
2    rules and electrical and food service costs were made
3    competitive with those in Orlando and Las Vegas.
4        (11) The General Assembly created the Joint Committee
5    on the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority to
6    conduct hearings and obtain facts to determine how union
7    labor work rules and electrical and food service costs make
8    McCormick Place and Navy Pier uneconomical as a convention
9    venue.
10        (12) Witness testimony and fact-gathering revealed
11    that while the skilled labor provided by trade unions at
12    McCormick Place and Navy Pier is second to none and is
13    actually "exported" to work on conventions and exhibitions
14    held in Orlando and Las Vegas, restrictive work rules on
15    the activities show exhibitors may perform present
16    exhibitors and show managers with an uninviting atmosphere
17    and result in significantly higher costs than competing
18    convention facilities.
19        (13) Witness testimony and fact-gathering also
20    revealed that the mark-up on electrical and food service
21    imposed by the Authority to generate operating revenue for
22    McCormick Place and Navy Pier also substantially increased
23    exhibitor and show organizer costs to the point of excess
24    when compared to competing convention facilities.
25        (14) Witness testimony and fact-gathering further
26    revealed that the additional departure of conventions,

 

 

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1    exhibitions, and trade shows from Authority facilities
2    threatens the continued economic viability of these
3    facilities and the stability of sufficient tax revenues
4    necessary to support debt service.
5        (15) In order to safeguard the Authority's and State of
6    Illinois' shared compelling and proprietary interests in
7    McCormick Place and Navy Pier and in response to local
8    economic needs, the provisions contained in this Section
9    set forth mandated changes and reforms to restore and
10    ensure that (i) the Authority's facilities remain
11    economically competitive with other convention venues and
12    (ii) conventions, exhibitions, trade shows, and other
13    meetings are attracted to and retained at Authority
14    facilities by producing an exhibitor-friendly environment
15    and by reducing costs for exhibitors and show managers.
16        (16) The provisions set forth in this Section are
17    reasonable, necessary, and narrowly tailored to safeguard
18    the Authority's and State of Illinois' shared and
19    compelling proprietary interests and respond to local
20    economic needs as compared to the available alternative set
21    forth in House Bill 4900 of the 96th General Assembly and
22    proposals submitted to the Joint Committee on the
23    Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority. Action by the
24    State offers the only comprehensive means to remedy the
25    circumstances set forth in these findings, despite the
26    concerted and laudable voluntary efforts of the Authority,

 

 

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1    labor unions, show contractors, show managers, and
2    exhibitors.
 
3(b) Definitions. As used in this Section:
4        "Booth" means the demarcated exhibit space of an
5    exhibitor on Authority premises.
6        "Contractor" or "show contractor" means any person who
7    contracts with the Authority, an exhibitor, or with the
8    manager of a show to provide any services related to
9    drayage, rigging, carpentry, decorating, electrical,
10    maintenance, mechanical, and food and beverage services or
11    related trades and duties for shows on Authority premises.
12        "Exhibitor" or "show exhibitor" means any person who
13    contracts with the Authority or with a manager or
14    contractor of a show held or to be held on Authority
15    premises.
16        "Exhibitor employee" means any person who has been
17    employed by the exhibitor as a full-time employee for a
18    minimum of 6 months before the show's opening date.
19        "Hand tools" means cordless tools, power tools, and
20    other tools as determined by the Authority.
21        "Licensee" means any entity that uses the Authority's
22    premises.
23        "Manager" or "show manager" means any person that owns
24    or manages a show held or to be held on Authority premises.
25        "Personally owned vehicles" means the vehicles owned

 

 

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1    by show exhibitors or the show management, excluding
2    commercially registered trucks, vans, and other vehicles
3    as determined by the Authority.
4        "Premises" means grounds, buildings, and facilities of
5    the Authority.
6        "Show" means a convention, exposition, trade show,
7    event, or meeting held on Authority premises by a show
8    manager or show contractor on behalf of a show manager.
9        "2011 Settlement Agreement" means the agreement that
10    the Authority made and entered into with the Chicago
11    Regional Council of Carpenters, not including any
12    revisions or amendments, and filed with the Illinois
13    Secretary of State Index Department and designated as
14    97-GA-A01.
15        "Union employees" means workers represented by a labor
16    organization, as defined in the National Labor Relations
17    Act, providing skilled labor services to exhibitors, a show
18    manager, or a show contractor on Authority premises.
 
19(c) Exhibitor rights.
20        In order to control costs, increase the
21    competitiveness, and promote and provide for the economic
22    stability of Authority premises, all Authority contracts
23    with exhibitors, contractors, and managers shall include
24    the following minimum terms and conditions:
25        (1) Consistent with safety and the skills and training

 

 

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1    necessary to perform the task, as determined by the
2    Authority, an exhibitor and exhibitor employees are
3    permitted in a booth of any size with the use of the
4    exhibitor's ladders and hand tools to:
5            (i) set-up and dismantle exhibits displayed on
6        Authority premises;
7            (ii) assemble and disassemble materials,
8        machinery, or equipment on Authority premises; and
9            (iii) install all signs, graphics, props,
10        balloons, other decorative items, and the exhibitor's
11        own drapery, including the skirting of exhibitor
12        tables, on the Authority's premises.
13        (2) An exhibitor and exhibitor employees are permitted
14    in a booth of any size to deliver, set-up, plug in,
15    interconnect, and operate an exhibitor's electrical
16    equipment, computers, audio-visual devices, and other
17    equipment.
18        (3) An exhibitor and exhibitor employees are permitted
19    in a booth of any size to skid, position, and re-skid all
20    exhibitor material, machinery, and equipment on Authority
21    premises.
22        (4) An exhibitor and exhibitor employees are
23    prohibited at any time from using scooters, forklifts,
24    pallet jacks, condors, scissors lifts, motorized dollies,
25    or similar motorized or hydraulic equipment on Authority
26    premises.

 

 

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1        (5) The Authority shall designate areas, in its
2    discretion, where exhibitors may unload and load exhibitor
3    materials from privately owned vehicles at Authority
4    premises with the use of non-motorized hand trucks and
5    dollies.
6        (6) On Monday through Friday for any consecutive 8-hour
7    period during the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., union
8    employees on Authority premises shall be paid
9    straight-time hourly wages plus fringe benefits. Union
10    employees shall be paid straight-time and a half hourly
11    wages plus fringe benefits for labor services provided
12    after any consecutive 8-hour period; provided, however,
13    that between the hours of midnight and 6:00 a.m. union
14    employees shall be paid double straight-time wages plus
15    fringe benefits for labor services.
16        (7) On Monday through Friday for any consecutive 8-hour
17    period during the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., a show
18    manager or contractor shall charge an exhibitor only for
19    labor services provided by union employees on Authority
20    premises based on straight-time hourly wages plus fringe
21    benefits along with a reasonable mark-up. After any
22    consecutive 8-hour period, a show manager or contractor
23    shall charge an exhibitor only for labor services provided
24    by union employees based on straight-time and a half hourly
25    wages plus fringe benefits along with a reasonable mark-up;
26    provided, however, that between the hours of midnight and

 

 

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1    6:00 a.m. a show manager or contractor shall charge an
2    exhibitor only for labor services provided by union
3    employees based on double straight-time wages plus fringe
4    benefits along with a reasonable mark-up.
5        (8) (Blank). On Saturdays for any consecutive 8-hour
6    period, union employees on Authority premises shall be paid
7    straight-time and a half hourly wages plus fringe benefits.
8    After any consecutive 8-hour period, union employees on
9    Authority premises shall be paid double straight-time
10    hourly wages plus fringe benefits; provided, however, that
11    between the hours of midnight and 6:00 a.m. union employees
12    shall be paid double straight-time wages plus fringe
13    benefits for labor services.
14        (9) (Blank). On Saturdays for any consecutive 8-hour
15    period, a show manager or contractor shall charge an
16    exhibitor only for labor services provided by union
17    employees on Authority premises based on straight-time and
18    a half hourly wages plus fringe benefits along with a
19    reasonable mark-up. After any consecutive 8-hour period, a
20    show manager or contractor shall charge an exhibitor only
21    for labor services provided by union employees based on
22    double straight-time hourly wages plus fringe benefits
23    along with a reasonable mark-up; provided, however, that
24    between the hours of midnight and 6:00 a.m. a show manager
25    or contractor shall charge an exhibitor only for labor
26    services provided by union employees based on double

 

 

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1    straight-time wages plus fringe benefits along with a
2    reasonable mark-up.
3        (10) (Blank). On Sundays and on State and federal
4    holidays, union employees on Authority premises shall be
5    paid double straight-time hourly wages plus fringe
6    benefits.
7        (11) (Blank). On Sundays and on State and federal
8    holidays, a show manager or contractor shall charge an
9    exhibitor only for labor services provided by union
10    employees on Authority premises based on double
11    straight-time hourly wages plus fringe benefits along with
12    a reasonable mark-up.
13        (12) The Authority has the power to determine, after
14    consultation with the Advisory Council, the work
15    jurisdiction and scope of work of union employees on
16    Authority premises during the move-in, move-out, and run of
17    a show, provided that any affected labor organization may
18    contest the Authority's determination through a binding
19    decision of an independent, third-party arbitrator. When
20    making the determination, the Authority or arbitrator, as
21    the case may be, shall consider the training and skills
22    required to perform the task, past practices on Authority
23    premises, safety, and the need for efficiency and exhibitor
24    satisfaction. These factors shall be considered in their
25    totality and not in isolation. The Authority's
26    determination must be made in writing, set forth an

 

 

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1    explanation and statement of the reason or reasons
2    supporting the determination, and be provided to each
3    affected labor organization. The changes in this item (12)
4    by this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly are
5    declarative of existing law and shall not be construed as a
6    new enactment. Nothing in this item permits the Authority
7    to eliminate any labor organization representing union
8    employees that provide labor services on the move-in,
9    move-out, and run of the show as of the effective date of
10    this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly.
11        (13) (Blank). During the run of a show, all stewards of
12    union employees shall be working stewards. Subject to the
13    discretion of the Authority, no more than one working
14    steward per labor organization representing union
15    employees providing labor services on Authority premises
16    shall be used per building and per show.
17        (14) An exhibitor or show manager may request by name
18    specific union employees to provide labor services on
19    Authority premises consistent with all State and federal
20    laws. Union employees requested by an exhibitor shall take
21    priority over union employees requested by a show manager.
22        (15) A show manager or show contractor on behalf of a
23    show manager may retain an electrical contractor approved
24    by the Authority or Authority-provisioned electrical
25    services to provide electrical services on the premises. If
26    a show manager or show contractor on behalf of a show

 

 

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1    manager retains Authority-provisioned electrical services,
2    then the Authority shall offer these services at a rate not
3    to exceed the cost of providing those services.
4        (16) Crew sizes for any task or operation shall not
5    exceed 2 persons unless, after consultation with the
6    Advisory Council, the Authority determines otherwise based
7    on the task, skills, and training required to perform the
8    task and on safety.
9        (17) An exhibitor may bring food and beverages on the
10    premises of the Authority for personal consumption.
11        (18) Show managers and contractors shall comply with
12    any audit performed under subsection (e) of this Section.
13        (19) A show manager or contractor shall charge an
14    exhibitor only for labor services provided by union
15    employees on Authority premises on a minimum half-hour
16    basis.
17    The Authority has the power to implement, enforce, and
18administer the exhibitor rights set forth in this subsection,
19including the promulgation of rules. The Authority also has the
20power to determine violations of this subsection and implement
21appropriate remedies, including, but not limited to, barring
22violators from Authority premises. The provisions set forth in
23this Section are binding and equally applicable to any show
24conducted at Navy Pier, and this statement of the law is
25declarative of existing law and shall not be construed as a new
26enactment. The Authority may waive the applicability of only

 

 

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1item (6) of this subsection (c) to the extent necessary and
2required to comply with paragraph 1 of Section F of the 2011
3Settlement Agreement, as set forth on Page 12 of that
4Agreement.
 
5(d) Advisory Council.
6        (1) An Advisory Council is hereby established to ensure
7    an active and productive dialogue between all affected
8    stakeholders to ensure exhibitor satisfaction for
9    conventions, exhibitions, trade shows, and meetings held
10    on Authority premises.
11        (2) The composition of the Council shall be determined
12    by the Authority consistent with its existing practice for
13    labor-management relations.
14        (3) The Council shall hold meetings no less than once
15    every 90 days.
 
16(e) Audit of exhibitor rights.
17    The Authority shall retain the services of a person to
18complete, at least twice per calendar year, a financial
19statement audit and compliance attestation examination to
20determine and verify that the exhibitor rights set forth in
21this Section have produced cost reductions for exhibitors and
22those cost reductions have been fairly passed along to
23exhibitors. The financial statement audit shall be performed in
24accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. The

 

 

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1compliance attestation examination shall be (i) performed in
2accordance with attestation standards established by the
3American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and shall
4examine the compliance with the requirements set forth in this
5Section and (ii) conducted by a licensed public accounting
6firm, selected by the Authority from a list of firms
7prequalified to do business with the Illinois Auditor General.
8Upon request, a show contractor or manager shall provide the
9Authority or person retained to provide auditing services with
10any information and other documentation reasonably necessary
11to perform the obligations set forth in this subsection. Upon
12completion, the report shall be submitted to the Authority and
13made publicly available on the Authority's website.
 
14(f) Exhibitor service reforms. The Authority shall make every
15effort to substantially reduce exhibitor's costs for
16participating in shows.
17        (1) Any contract to provide food or beverage services
18    in the buildings and facilities of the Authority, except
19    Navy Pier, shall be provided at a rate not to exceed the
20    cost established in the contract. The Board shall
21    periodically review all food and beverage contracts.
22        (2) A department or unit of the Authority shall not
23    serve as the exclusive provider of electrical services.
24        (3) Exhibitors shall receive a detailed statement of
25    all costs associated with utility services, including the

 

 

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1    cost of labor, equipment, and materials.
 
2(g) Severability. If any provision of this Section or its
3application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
4invalidity of that provision or application does not affect
5other provisions or applications of this Section that can be
6given effect without the invalid provision or application.
7(Source: P.A. 96-898, eff. 5-27-10; 96-899, eff. 5-28-10.)
 
8    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
9becoming law.