To Honor Steve Legrande

Got an email from someone who suggested, in honor of departed brother Steve, that we should all wear 'show whites' in his memory for the rest of the season. Anybody who knew him, knows he would have gotten a kick out it...

Speak and ye shall be heard...

Apologies to the creator of this image, but it is heart warming to see some comments about the blog rather than the blog author.
If our 'official' channels don't do the job, we must go elsewhere.
Some feel we have singled out specific individuals for criticism but we only report each time they shoot themselves in the foot. If you can factually dispute any of the observations in this blog, please do. "Cause I said so" doesn't count...
Nobody is threatening anybody but these are topics, for good or bad, that are being discussed. Since our meetings consist of little real debate, there needs to be a forum for the concerned and the committed. Even those that require commitment...

more reaction to the hiring decision...

It seems some of the established hands will be working in departments other than audio on TUTS load ins and load outs to show there displeasure with the recent events. It is important to remember we must fulfill our obligations to the Union, maintain our jurisdiction and do the best for all our producers, but if there is a problem with a department head or assistant, it is each man's prerogative to not take a call in that department.
The business agent(s) must be sensitive to the wishes of the rank and file who see little support from the office when it comes to matters of recourse in hiring practices.
To say that we have no final say in the decisions management makes is true but we can have input and hopefully give some direction. Speak out or be shut up.

so let's see...

We have multiple people in the office, some of them elected and some them hired. Who is doing what and what recourse do we have when there is a difference of opinion?
This forum is welcome for your comments.

Just remember to be thinking of who you want running your local for the next three years. Start thinking of the incumbents and the announced challengers. Discount the known knuckleheads and think outside the tired and true.

Upcoming events...

Continuing through Monday: PMA convention at the Brown Convention Center and Hilton
Continuing Runs: Dreamgirls at the Hobby
Opera Load in and rehearsals at the Brown
Ballet lost in America, somewhere...
Friday: Da Camera Load in, show and strike at the Cullen
F, S, Sun Sinatra Jr. at Jones
Sunday : Indo American Association at the Cullen

Union Meeting: Details coming as soon as they are received.

Late breaking news

Entertainment

Producers Make Final Offer to Stagehands NEW YORK -- Is the curtain going up on a Broadway labor showdown? Negotiations between the League of American Theatres and Producers reached a critical stage Tuesday as the producers presented what they said was the League's final offer to Local One, the Broadway stagehands' union. "The League seeks a contract that requires that we only pay for work we actually need and is actually performed," said Charlotte St. Martin, the league's executive director. The offer includes a 16 percent wage increase over five years, a separate 10 percent wage increase for the period when shows are loaded in, an additional increase for the lowest paid stagehands, as well as a new sick pay provision, St. Martin said. "The union is working very hard on its `last best offer' and hope the producers accept it," said Bruce Cohen, a spokesman for Local One of the International Alliance of Stage Employees, which represents Broadway's carpenters, electricians, props workers and sound technicians. What happens next is up in the air. If an agreement is not reached, the producers could decide to lock out the stagehands, effectively shutting down most theaters. Or the two sides could continue talking, which they have been doing intensely over the last month. A shutdown would affect most commercial Broadway productions but not those produced by such nonprofit organizations as the Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club and Lincoln Center Theater. Also apparently not affected are shows in theaters owned by non-League members, which include the Hilton, where Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein" begins previews Thursday, and the Disney-owned New Amsterdam, home to "Mary Poppins." If Broadway shuts down, it would be the first time since 2003, when more than a dozen Broadway shows went dark after Local 802 of the musicians union held a four-day strike. The stagehands have been working without a contract since July. The thorniest issue dominating the negotiations are rules governing "load-ins" _ putting a show's physical production into a theater. Producers say the rules are cumbersome and expensive and that they need more leeway to determine how and how many stagehands are needed. League members, who include theater owners, producers and general managers, have reportedly put together a $20 million fund to help some of the less popular shows financially weather a possible shutdown. St. Martin said Tuesday's offer by the League is "a compromise that preserves many contract provisions Local One sought to protect, but at the same time liberalizes some archaic work rules so that they begin to reflect those present in most modern workplaces." The 3,000-member union, which has between 350 and 500 members working on Broadway at any given time, contends it could find employment for many of its people in television or film if a work stoppage occurs. © 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.