Chicago City Wire

Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter testified before the Illinois Senate Tourism and Hospitality Committee about the harmful impact Gov. J.B. Pritzker's Phase 4 mitigations are having on the state's travel industry, a Capitol Fax release said. 

The Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association live-tweeted Reiter's March 4 testimony as he warned the committee that decisions made now will adversely affect the industry through the summer and beyond.

"We can't exist in @GovPritzker's phase 4 limbo & just hope that regulations are going to change," Reiter said, the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association tweeted. "We need a ramp. How do we make incremental progress as pandemic winds to a close. Help us plan a path forward that protects workers but allows them to get back to work."

Reiter said that current regulations are causing events as far out as 2022 to be canceled. On the other hand, other states like Nevada and New York are doing all they can to allow events to go on as planned, Reiter said.

"We have been working with health experts on protocols and believe events should resume with 50% occupancy cap and no maximum as long as precautions are implemented," Reiter said, the association tweeted. "A balancing act needs to be had that protects people's health, but we also need to look at what needs to be done to get people back to work. 25-30,000 union hospitality & convention workers are out of work & are making the decisions b/w paying for healthcare, mortgage or buying food."

With at least three conventions in Illinois canceled over the last few weeks, Reiter said what needs to happen is clear.

"We need to look towards the future," Reiter said, the association tweeted. "Can't focus on previous benchmarks as vaccines increase. We don't need capacity limits. We need a percentage-based occupancy cap based on the size of the space where the event is."