Labor Unions, Some Democrats Pressing Pritzker for Re-Opening
A crowd packs the Chicago Auto Show at McCormick Place in 2019. Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter wants the Pritzker administration to present a roadmap for more conventions to return to Chicago.
A year into the coronavirus pandemic, labor leaders, tourism executives, and some Democrats are calling on Governor JB Pritzker to begin relaxing restrictions to allow more conventions and tourism in the state.
Discussing the impacts of the shutdown with a Senate committee Thursday, Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter estimates some 25,000 to 30,000 union hospitality workers in Chicago, mostly in hotel and convention center jobs, are out of work.
Reiter says McCormick Place, the largest convention center in the United States, has lost at least three high-profile conventions this year, most of which have relocated to another city. Under the Governor’s “Phase 4” restrictions, gatherings in the 2.3 million square foot facility are limited to 50.
It’s added restraint on what is typically a $4 billion industry in the state.
“We need to put a long term re-opening plan on the table,” Reiter said. He says conventions will continue to flee Chicago without a plan for returning with some amount of attendance.
“We can’t exist in the Phase 4 limbo and hope a regulation is going to change in the next two weeks or next three weeks as the numbers get better,” Reiter said, referring to the Governor’s regulations. “One thing I don’t want to do is litigate the past. I don’t think we need to have capacity limits. We need to have percentages that account for what actual space is.”
The Chicago Federation of Labor is a high-profile donor to Democratic officeholders and candidates, making the break from Democrat Pritzker notable.
Meanwhile, Marilynn Gardner, the President & CEO of Navy Pier, which has been closed since September, says the largest tourist attraction in the Midwest is at risk of closing permanently.
“We’re able to provide for the distancing within our vast spaces, she said. “[If we] shift to the 50% and the show may go on.”
But, Gardner says, the facility needs assurances there will be a tourist and convention season in the city to begin preparation.
“We need to start ramping up. We need to be able to start hiring, start cleaning, and start preparing for the season.”
The feeling seems to permeate many levels of Chicago’s tourism and entertainment industries. Chris Jones, the Chief Theater Critic for the Chicago Tribune wrote Thursday a 50-person limit in those auditoriums “makes no sense.”
Reiter says the human impact on unemployed workers is the most concerning.
“Right now, people are making the decisions between paying for their health care out of their own pocket because there’s haven’t been any COBRA subsidies up until this point and paying their mortgage or buying food,” he said. “We’re going to have to find a way to exist in this space we’re in now so people can predict where their lives are taking them.”
Many Democrats on the committee, most who have been deferential to Pritzker’s rules, said it’s time for him to open the city and state to more tourism and large gatherings in large spaces.
“You definitely have convinced me that there is a way to do this safely,” Sen. Rachelle Crowe (D-Glen Carbon), told Reiter.
Sen. Suzy Glowiak-Hilton (D-Western Springs) says the state needs to find space between the current “Phase 4” limitations and a complete opening, in “Phase 5.”
“Between Phase 4 and Phase 5, it’s all or small and we need an in between piece to ramp us up and plan and give us some predictability to these folks who really need it,” she said. “We’ve gotta get people back to work.”
The Governor’s office did not respond to our request for comment.
Reiter says while other states are opening, they haven’t been able to discuss the issues with Governor’s office yet.
“This conversation needs to be had right now,” he said.
