Carpenters union vows to not disrupt papal visit

Three months before Pope Francis arrives in Philadelphia, the Carpenters union wants him to know the union's ongoing protest against the Convention Center will not interfere with his visit.

"We want to assure you that our ongoing protest of this injustice will in no way interfere or disrupt the Holy Father's visit to Philadelphia," which is scheduled for Sept. 26 and 27, Edward Coryell, business manager of the Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters, wrote in a Monday letter addressed to Archbishop Charles J. Chaput.

"We believe the Holy Father to be a man of peace who . . . has a reputation for upholding the church's longstanding commitment to standing up for working people throughout the Americas, and now as pope - throughout the world," Coryell wrote.

Ken Gavin, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, declined to comment, saying he did not know whether Chaput had read the letter.

Before the pope's visit here, the World Meeting of Families is hosting a conference at the Convention Center from Sept. 21-25 that will culminate with the pope attending a family festival Sept. 26 on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and lead Sunday Mass the next day outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The Carpenters union's assurance of not disrupting the papal visit also includes the conference at the Convention Center before the pope's arrival, union spokesman Martin O'Rourke said.

Coryell's letter described the situation at the Convention Center as a dispute over a deadline for signing a customer satisfaction agreement.

Of the six unions that worked at the Convention Center, four signed the pact by a management-imposed deadline in May 2014. Two other unions, the Carpenters and Teamsters Local 107, signed a few days after the deadline.

In the interim, the work they had done at the center was divided among the other unions or handled by employees of the center's outside management company.

In his letter, Coryell said in honor of the pope's visit, the union would be encouraging its members to increase participation in volunteer projects.

Convention Center Authority spokesman Pete Peterson said center officials "welcome the news" there will be no disruption, adding that officials "look forward to making the World Meeting of Families and papal visit a successful event."