United Auto Workers-Ford to Hold Joint Conference in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH, March 30 -- Pittsburgh will be the host city for the United Auto Workers and Ford Motor Co.'s joint conference, which will bring approximately 1,700 union auto workers and Ford managers to Pittsburgh this summer.

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato announced the event during the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitor's Bureau Annual Meeting on Wednesday.

The UAW-Ford conference will take place Aug. 29 - Sept. 2, 2005, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Historically, the UAW-Ford joint conference had been held in Las Vegas. However, a recent cost-saving initiative set forth by the UAW required that future meetings be located within a five-hour drive from Detroit.

This new requirement bodes well for Pittsburgh. UAW has designated Pittsburgh, located 200 miles from UAW's Detroit headquarters, as a destination city for future conferences.

"This is an exciting opportunity for Pittsburgh," said Joseph McGrath, President and CEO of the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau (GPCVB). "We're confident that their experiences here - both at the conference and in and around our region - will bring them back to Pittsburgh again and again."

The five-day conference will bring union auto workers and Ford officials together in an open forum to discuss work practices. Michigan-based Ford and the UAW are leaders in developing a broad range of approaches to worker involvement and labor-management cooperation.

While in Pittsburgh, conference attendees will stay at four hotels, including the Westin Convention Center Hotel, Omni William Penn Hotel, Hilton Pittsburgh and Sheraton Station Square Hotel. The collaborative effort among members of the Pittsburgh hospitality community helped attract the conference to Pittsburgh, according to the GPCVB.

Conservative estimates for this conference indicate that attendees and their families will leave behind an anticipated $1.7 million in direct spending, according to the GPCVB. That spending includes nearly $60,000 in hotel tax revenue, $16,000 in RAD revenue and $95,000 in state sales tax. Joseph Weir, Coordinator of Convention Services, United Auto Workers, (313) 392-7201 or Dennis Walkowiak, Coordinator of Convention Services, Ford Motor Co., (313) 392-7223.