Convention Center CEO Says Carpenters Union Vandalized Auto Show
By Kristen Johanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- If you attended the auto-show, you may have seen some unwelcome activity. A contract dispute between the Carpenters Union and the Pennsylvania Convention Center got a bit tenser at the auto show this weekend.
Convention Center President and CEO John McNichol says several dozen members of the Carpenters Union disrupted the auto show Saturday.
"They were pamphleting the cars, stuffing them in glove boxes and trunks," he says. "They were removing some fuses and disconnecting wires under the hood."
Martin O'Rourke from the Carpenters Union disputes this claim, saying members were exercising their first amendment right to protest.
"These carpenters paid to get into the convention center, and they began distributing leaflets, dealing with their unfair lockout from the Pennsylvania Convention Center," he says.
McNichol says they were granted a restraining order against the union and are investigating the disruption. The Carpenters Union says they will continue to protest until the dispute is resolved.