April 19–PENNSYLVANIA Labor Relations Board examiner Jack E. Marino, reversed his decision to throw out complaints made by union carpenters, paving the way for their return to the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where they had been banned from working last May.

“The Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters is pleased that the PLRB has reversed its earlier dismissal of the union’s charges and has agreed to hold hearings on the lockout of carpenters from the convention center,” said Martin O’Rourke, a spokesman for the union.

But John McNichol, president and CEO of the Convention Center Authority, said he was perplexed by the move.

“To our knowledge, no new evidence has been introduced since the hearing officer’s original ruling,” McNichol said, “so the reason for his reversal is unclear.”

Earlier this year, Marino rejected complaints made by the Teamsters Local 107 and the MRC, which claimed that they had been wrongfully banned by the Convention Center Authority.

The two unions and the Convention Center Authority split after Teamsters Local 107 and the MRC failed to sign new work agreements by a given deadline. The agreements allowed customers to make adjustments to their booths, changes that previously had been handled by union workers.

Of the six unions contracted to work at the convention center, the Teamsters Local 107 and the MRC were the only two that failed to sign new work agreements. As a result, both were banned from the Convention Center and their work divided among the cooperating unions.

In the dispute, the carpenters and MRC held that the Convention Center Authority was a public organization and fell under the jurisdiction of the PLRB.

The Authority disagreed, arguing that workers were employed by a private Philadelphia company called Elliott-Lewis Corporation, which hires union workers and manages their payroll.

Yesterday, McNichol expressed concern over the implication of Marino’s decision.

“If the significant changes made at the center are overturned, we could see a catastrophic loss of bookings that will devastate the hospitality industry,” he said in his statement to the Daily News.

He added that the new Customer Satisfaction Agreement allowed customers to use battery operated screwdrivers, step-ladders and to perform work in their own booths — work performed by unionized workers in the past.

“The carpenters refused [to agree to the work terms] and their work was reassigned to other hard-working, skilled union labor that are exceeding our customer’s expectations,” he said.

Hearings will be scheduled soon to determine the merits of the carpenters’ complaints, according to a 14-page opinion issued by Marino on Thursday.