Published: October 22, 2007
Members of Local One, the union representing almost all Broadway stagehands, authorized their leaders to call a strike in a unanimous vote yesterday, the union said. While the vote does not mean that a strike is inevitable, it is a necessary step if one is to be called.
In a statement, the union said that there were no plans for a strike, which would leave most Broadway theaters dark, though James J. Claffey Jr., the president of Local One, was quoted as saying at the meeting, “No work in December without a deal.”
The union also voted to allocate $1 million from its general fund to help other unions on Broadway in the event of a work stoppage. This would be in addition to the $4.1 million emergency fund raised for its own members for use in the event of a work stoppage.
The votes, which were taken at a meeting of about 1,000 stagehands at the Westin Hotel on 43rd Street, come as talks between the union and the League of American Theaters and Producers are at a standstill.
The producers and the union have both made what they called final offers, and, last week, the producers’ league announced that it was imposing portions of its final offer on the stagehands.
In the negotiations, which have been going on since July, the producers have proposed loosening restrictions on when stagehands are needed for work, how many are needed and what tasks they are allowed to perform.
The union has said that any alterations to the rules that would mean less work for stagehands need to come with exchanges of equal value.
The Nederlander organization, which owns nine theaters and has a separate contract with the stagehands, will not be imposing work rules, and the union said a strike against the Nederlanders would be highly unlikely. But on Friday, a Nederlander official sent a letter to the union saying that the Nederlander theaters would lock the stagehands out if the union went on strike against other Broadway theaters.
The league, however, is apparently no longer considering the lockout option.
In a statement reacting to the vote, Charlotte St. Martin, the executive director of the league, said, “The responsibility for a decision to shut down Broadway rests squarely with Local One.”
Local One has never struck on Broadway. The last work stoppage, a four-day strike by the musicians’ union, was in 2003.
3 comments:
'The union has said that any alterations to the rules that would mean less work for stagehands need to come with exchanges of equal value.'
This is the core argument. They want to reduce staffing with a minimal increase. The less people working, the less leverage the Union has...
If the League of Producers don't appreciate our hardwork and pay us accordingly, then I say Let's Strike!
PLAYBILL.COM'S THEATRE WEEK IN REVIEW, Oct. 13-19: Hardball
By Robert Simonson
19 Oct 2007
Broadway's League of American Theatres and Producers made a forceful move this week in the ongoing contract standoff between itself and Local One, the stagehands union.
You may recall that on Oct. 9, the League presented its final offer to Local One, saying "Take it or leave it." Well, Local One left it. However, the League apparently wasn't ready to leave it, and decided to put some provisions of the would-be pact in effect. Following a meeting of League members Oct. 16, the trade organization issued a statement at 7 PM in which executive director Charlotte St. Martin said that "the League today took the next logical and responsible step available to achieve a fair contract by implementing portions of its final offer. The implemented provisions will govern how work will be performed going forward."
That means that, even though Local One hasn't signed the final offer, the League is acting as if it had. A subsequent press release sent at 8 PM stated that the new League provisions would not be implemented before Oct. 22. This bold move puts the union in a tight spot as it approaches Oct. 21, when its members vote whether or not to authorize a strike. Both sides are fearful of being the one the turns the light off on Broadway; the union doesn't want to strike and the League doesn't want to execute a lockout. The sticking point continues to be the work rules that dictate how many union members must be used during the load-in and load-out of a Broadway production. Local One says it is unwilling to accept and job cuts; the League says those extra, superfluous jobs have no right to exist in the first place.
In other news, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who brokered a deal between the producers and the musicians union a few years back, offered to put on his White Knight costume again, but was rebuffed by Local One. Stagehands, it seems, don't take direction from no one.
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