In its continuing effort to rid itself of having a reputation for difficult labor unions, the Philadelphia Convention Center is mandating customer service training for its employees and union workers. I'm trying to imagine a forklift operator getting into role-playing, but it sounds like everyone participated once they realized they'd get gift certificates for local hotels and restaurants. Anyway, I think this is a great step for the center to take. It's always the front-line folks who do most of the interaction with attendees, exhibitors, and meeting planners, but they so seldom get this type of training. From the article:
- Union leaders who took part in the training endorsed what Guise and O'Donnell were doing.
"They made it very clear that in order to get people to come back, we need training," said Pete Lyde, a member of laborers' union Local 332, who took the training on Wednesday. "If people don't come back and spend money in this building, we don't eat, and we don't feed our families."