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Recent Articles By Kristen Hinman

National Features

"The unions are killing us."

The statement is uttered at the city's tourism bureau, bandied about in business circles, muttered in political corridors. It's a catch-all phrase, explaining St. Louis' hemorrhaging convention business.

Now, after years of tenuous labor relations, the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission — the public agency responsible for infusing some $2 billion a year into the area's economy — has taken up arms against three unions that staff events at America's Center.

At issue: teleprompters, tape recorders, microphones and televisions.

The offensive began March 8, when CVC president Kathleen "Kitty" Ratcliffe circulated an advisory from ex-St. Louis Cardinals offensive lineman Dan Dierdorf, chairman of the CVC's board of directors.

"America's Center is a building that holds few secrets from the people who work here," Dierdorf's memo begins. "So, you probably already know that the Convention & Visitors Commission has asked Kitty, Bruce and their staffs to begin a conversation with representatives of the 100 or so employees who regularly accept assignments involving audiovisual equipment at America's Center."

Under fire are the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 6 (Stagehands), the IATSE Local 143 (Projectionists) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1.

The CVC claims that it's tired of being held hostage by outdated and byzantine union work rules that jack up convention prices in St. Louis.

Dierdorf concludes: "I believe that it is time to face up to the issues that the 156 full-time and hundreds of part-time employees in this building (and most event planners and rival facility managers) know are our biggest competitive challenge."

The so-called conversation between the union business managers and CVC officials began cordially enough over iced teas at Cardwell's at the Plaza the following afternoon.

It was only later, after perusing a twelve-page position paper delivered by Dierdorf, that the labor leaders realized they were being thrust into the biggest bargaining battle ever waged by the CVC.

According to the position paper, a copy of which was obtained by Riverfront Times, the CVC wants America's Center (which the CVC operates) to become the employer of all audiovisual personnel — a middleman between conventions contractors and the unions.

The move would put the kibosh on the 30-year practice in which contractors strike their own labor agreements with the locals. According to the CVC, that custom has cost the region staggering sums.

"In the last 5 years, at an absolute minimum, America's Center lost 31 major Events because of either Customer problems with the AV Locals or because of the AV Locals' reputation in the convention community," the tourism bureau's position paper states.

"America's Center estimates conservatively that these events would have generated approximately $132 million for the local economy, including 443,250 hotel room nights. It is not difficult to imagine that America's Center lost an equal number of Events because of its reputation for labor difficulties about which it is not even aware."

But union business managers believe they're a red herring for shoddy salesmanship and bush-league attractions.

"Five years' worth of events," seethes Jack Beckman of IATSE Local 6 (Stagehands). "I may have a reputation as a hothead, but I am fair. For them to tell me we lost these shows because of audiovisual — I swear on my father's grave, nobody ever told us about it until now."

"It is unfathomable!" echoes William Watkins, with the Projectionists. "I think the CVC should think for a minute about the fact that St. Louis is known for the highest crime rate in the country, it has no direct flights, there are very few restaurants where meeting planners can eat, the dome floor is covered with turf six months of the year and can't be moved for conventions, and there's no retail downtown.

"We talk to everybody that comes in and out of there. You know what they say about St. Louis? 'There's no shopping!'"

Kitty Ratcliffe is the only CVC staffer authorized to discuss the current negotiations. She says, "This is a problem that has existed here for a very long time. And everybody in the industry knows it."

Kitty Ratcliffe took the helm of the CVC in May 2006. Her résumé reveals experience at both right-to-work (New Orleans) and unionized (Baltimore) convention bureaus. No stranger to St. Louis, the 49-year-old Chicago native cut her teeth as a CVC sales rep here in the late 1980s.

Ratcliffe's return to the St. Louis convention center coincides with its most sizzling sales pitch to date: 502,000 square feet of exhibit space, a 1,083-room "headquarter hotel" — the Renaissance Grand & Suites — an improving cityscape and enhanced entertainment options, including Ballpark Village, and a revitalized St. Louis Centre on the horizon.

It's a trying time in the industry, however. In the early 1990s, medium and large cities in many states began laying out billions of dollars to build or expand their exhibit halls. Then came the events of 9/11. Tighter bottom lines ever since have left event planners with far less money to spend on meetings and trade shows.

Still, St. Louis should be poised to thrive in this crowded marketplace, say veterans of the trade. The Gateway to the West may lack the attractions of a Las Vegas or an Orlando. Our summer and winter weather can be off-putting. But — like other Midwestern cities — St. Louis is a cheaper venue than a San Francisco or a New Orleans and, as a result, a magnet for frugal government and religious organizations, or for corporate and professional meeting-planners out to save a buck.

But compared to our major rival, Kansas City, St. Louis is struggling. The cities bid annually on roughly the same number of "citywide" conventions. (That's a group that books more than 1,000 hotel room nights.) Yet Kansas City managed to bait and net 42 percent of those bids last year, while St. Louis logged between 25 and 30 percent.

Write Your Comment show comments (10)

  1. I work personally on these shows at America's center in A/V and have NEVER heard a client complain of my work. I am a professional first and foremost and get my work because of my reputation. It's nobody fault completely that potential clients pick other cities. It is safe to say that 1/3 of A/V techs / cvc salepeople / teamsters/ management / whoever, do a poor job, 1/3 do a standard job, and 1/3 do a great job. This is the law of thirds in effect. It is everywhere in government (we know which third sucks Satan's cock), schools (1/3 of teachers suck), families (1/3 of a family sucks sometimes i.e. a drunken abusive husband for instance), people (1/3 are dumbed down american idol watching morons who love Bush and live in fear). Get used to it. Some people just suck at what they do. Some people do an ok job. The other third kicks ass! Have a great day.

    Comment by Union man — May 17, 2007 @ 01:46PM

  2. "The unions are killing us" start the story off.

    14 paragraphs pass before any response from a union is written.

    Of the parts that mention or refer to unions or their representatives we learn:
    1. Jack Beckman of IATSE Local 6 "seethes".
    2. Bob Kelley is a "union kingpin".
    3. Unions are "sluggish" and don't care if show goes bad because they "still get paid".
    4. Union rules are "outdated", "byzantine" and hold management "hostage".

    And, we don't learn until page 4 that management refuses to provide any documentation supporting it's outrageous claims.

    Did FOX news buy the RFT? Or has the RFT merely adopted Fox's "Fair and Balanced" approach? Or maybe the RFT just received a nice big contribution from the CVC?

    Comment by Michael Dalton — May 19, 2007 @ 01:01PM

  3. It is time that working class people to stand up for all workers union or not. I am a casual w/ locals 39,6 and a former member of teamster local 618 and 655. I am proud to be and to have been apart of these organizations.
    Yes, unions have and have had issues, some very serious ones. But, if it were not for union members, tradespeople whether in the union or not, would not receive the wages that they receive now.
    Yeah, there are plenty of jokes about Union workers, but think about your grand parents and parents and friends of ours parents, their family's made to where they made it due to Unions and Union Memebers.
    I'M A LOUD AND PROUD 2 BE IN THE UNION!

    Comment by Patrick Wilson — May 21, 2007 @ 05:04PM

  4. I wouldn't use Swank if my life depended on it. They charge wayyyy too much for garbage equipment.

    Comment by Alexander — May 22, 2007 @ 03:21PM

  5. I'm so glad to see the union issues at the America's Center being addressed. As event manager for an annual 4-day youth conference of 3,000 attendees, my one and only reason for not returning to St. Louis is the union issues. Was the downtown shopping mall great? No. But was this a reason not to come back? No. Our attendees were so pleased with the beauty of the America's Center, the close-by Renaissance and Drury Inn, the opportunity to visit the world-famous Arch and other St. Louis attractions. We were there in 2004 for the first and last time. Our non-profit organization simply cannot afford the unions nor will we tolerate the open harrassment by union personnel. We just walked away from small-town Charleston, West Virginia having been treated like gold and the feeling was great. There were no union disputes, high prices or people yelling at us. We'll go back to Charleston, which certainly has a less glamorous facility, but where we were treated with respect.

    Comment by Peggy Mercer — May 23, 2007 @ 09:23AM

  6. Reply to Miss Peggy Mercer:

    I'm sorry your organization had a bad experience at America's Center. Could you please give more detail to your charges of "open harrassment by union personnel" and "union issues"? What exactly were the reasons for these incidents? And, did your organization just waltz into St. Louis not knowing what the costs would be? You must have utilized a meeting planner and a contractor before coming here...did they hide facts from you, or misrepresent the facts? It's not always the fault of the workers. And, the workers only make a fraction of what you were charged by the contractors. Comments like yours mislead and confuse the real issues.

    Comment by William Watkins — May 23, 2007 @ 10:12AM

  7. If the union issue is as bad as America's Center claims, why has it been allowed to persist for this long. Who runs that building and what have they been doing the past ten to fifteen years. Perhaps looking into the managemnt staff at America's Center would shed some needed light onto this.

    Comment by Robert — May 23, 2007 @ 11:06AM

  8. The big problum as I see it is all the fun is so far awaayy. I wanna be able to walke from my dispaly of bass boats to the titty bars whan closing tim comes. y'all keep yeor titty bars clear on another side of the river.

    Comment by Clem — May 30, 2007 @ 01:09PM

  9. If this law of thirds as the first comment suggests applies to the riverfront times, then I would think that Kristen Hinman is in the third that sucks at what they do. The Fox News approach seems to be the weapon of choice against the middle class and the unions. All you boot licking lackeys out there remember why you haVE A LUNCH BREAK AT ALL AND PAID VACATIONS, BENEFITS, BECAUSE PEOPLE IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY CAME TOGETHER TO STAND AGAINST DEPLORABLE WORKING CONDITIONS AND FORMED WHAT ARE CALLED UNIONS. The DUDE

    Comment by The Dude — June 2, 2007 @ 06:24PM

  10. Can someone please tell my why the Union's in St.louis are allowed to EXTORT money from hard working people like me.

    I was working the Hispanic festival this last weekend in downtown Stl. This event was on the street, not in some Convention Center, not in a Hotel, but on the FN street's of STL. right next to The Soldiers Memorial ( A NON-UNION Building) Local 6 ( The Stagehand Union ) showed up and asks where the Union Stagehands were. We didn't have or need any stagehands to help set up our equipment since we set it up every weekend without them.

    Well this is where the extortion began, the head of Local 6 said that this was UNION jurisdiction and that if we didn't hire his people he was going to put up a picket line and that's what he did. With that the event was shut down for the time being because the other Union's didn't want to cross there line. I'm talking about the drivers that were delivering beer trailer's, the coke trailer's and so on. But the Union cameraman that was filming the whole thing was still there getting the story. Also the Union electrician's that were hooking up all the power were still working right next to us at this time. Well the Head of Local 6 called the Head of the Electrical Union and made the two guys leave the event until Local 6 got there Extortion money.

    The Head's of the Hispanic festival had no choice but to payoff Local 6 and the picket line was gone and the show went on. Oh by the way Local 6 still did no work at all, they just got money. Did i mention this was the fourth year for this event with no problems like this at all.

    So, I guess what I'm asking for is why is this allowed to happen in STL.? This is the same Union that you all read about in the RFT a few mouths ago about all the problems at the America Center. Why does the Mayor and the Police Force allow this EXTORION to go on?

    I would love for ONE person to explain this to me because i must be missing something.

    WHY DO UNION'S HAVE THIS ATHORITY?
    WHY DO HARD WORKING, NON-UNION ,PEOPLE HAVE TO PAY UNION'S EXTORTION?

    Greg Jackson
    Non-Union And Proud

    PLEASE RE-POST IF YOU FEEL THE SAME

    Comment by Greg Jackson — August 16, 2007 @ 11:54AM

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