DON'T YOU PEOPLE GET IT. YES THIS IS MY RANT ABOUT THE STRIKE- Page 3

[cooperross]

Posted: 11/12/07 at 12:04am

and doing research over 6 months ago would have helped how?

[NYC_or_Bust]

Posted: 11/12/07 at 12:05am

i DO have to agree with you on that one cooperross. Many of my friends had NO clue about this..many assumed I was talking about the Writer's strike. But I mean this has been brewing for a while now. Sadly, even AFTER Local One when on strike, it still didn't get the national coverage I felt it deserved.

But I do see that had many people known about this while it was almost at climax to strike, perhaps they would have been able to get back a portion of what they invested in their trip.

If you want to point fingers...do it at the Media.

_

[jspaeth87]

Posted: 11/12/07 at 12:12am

fair enough. that does suck. but i couldn't help, but notice you mentioning planning trips to see certain performers. that sounds like taking a risk and quite knowingly. there's always a chance that the performer will be out for the show you're going to see. But people still take those risks. which makes me wonder how much it would've hindered vacation plans if people had known about the possibility of a strike

[BroadwayBound86]

Posted: 11/12/07 at 3:04am

I do have to agree that there should have been more coverage in the media. I know it was mentioned in passing over the summer on a few news stations but nothing much ever came of it. You think with something this huge that has this much of an impact on the city they would have been following this.

[WickedForever2]

Posted: 11/12/07 at 3:35am

I'm honestly a little upset with all the "the tourists need to stop whining" sentiments around here. I live in Washington state in a small town where most people are farmers and have no idea where "Broadway" is even located. I've been wanting to go to NYC for YEARS, but it's really expensive and my family is not made of money. Had I finally saved enough and planned a trip out there right now to see all these shows I hear so much about, I would be extremely upset and disappointed. Sure I could find plenty else to do, but the main reason I want to go to New York is to see shows. I feel like people who live in the city are losing sight of the fact that, in many cases, trips are planned months if not years in advance. Sure you always take a risk with live theatre, but who would ever have imagined this would happen a year ago? Cut us "stupid tourists" a little slack...

[Tkt2Ride]

Posted: 11/12/07 at 5:29am

I live in a farming town too on the West Coast. Who is calling tourist stupid? Uninformed, maybe not making good plans but the worst of it is when tourist or anyone make statements that the Union doesn't care or personally went to all of this trouble to ruin your vacation. Now that sounds selfish. It sucks, it's rotten luck, that I understand. Sometimes, you just can't get a break. That I understand.

Who knew when this strike was going to happen? Even those involved didn't but they had a good idea. All the while though hoping some miracle would come along to save them from having to do this.

Buying your airfare six months in advance it truly a leap of faith if ever I saw one. You may not have heard the rumors but again, there were rumblings. A storm, a blackout, heck even your favorite Actor might get hurt or find a better job in that range of time. You would still be up a creek if you bought one of those non-refundable tickets. You would have been better waiting another month so that you could afford a little bit more and bought one that was.

With this strike, you might even see a few performers on the street holding signs. Wow, that must be strange. Just thinking of that bozo who said we should be throwing stuff at the Actors and Stagehands for daring to stand up for their right to Strike. See? This stuff makes people angry. Words cannot express how happy I am this guy missed the show. Even us tourists who are mad at other tourists for giving us a bad name! New Yorkers were great to me and that is why I know I will come back to New York when I can afford to spend some worthwhile money on shows.

This is as much slack as I fear I can give.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 11/12/07 at 12:05pm

I have nothing but respect for the audience and the tourists who come and support Broadway.

But there are plenty of people who live in NYC who are acting ridiculous.

And the bottom line is that as much as this sucks for the audience, they aren't going to have to worry about paying next month's rent and bills. We really just want a little perspective here.

[roadguy]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 5:54am

"I find the comments made by localonecrew and jerseygurl actually offensive in how naive they were. Name the job were I can make fantastic money and still have large amounts of time for family and kids and put a quality steak on the grill(as was foolishly said earlier). "

THEATRICAL PRODUCER!!!!

[majortom1981]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 7:33am

The union is very selfish. Comer on try to tell me why they arent. They only thought of themselves when they decided to strike. They dont care about all the business and restaraunts losing money and how that effects those places employees who get paid much less then they do. They dont care about all the little kids that they are effecting.

they could have done this in a much better manner by rolling strikes. Have a specific show shut down every week .Not everything at once. This is very selfish.

I got to work on the victor victoria tour for one day. What I saw the stage hands doing wich ridicoulous and it makes me sick that they want more money.

The stage hands were playing with a remote control car backstage DURING the play going on. I do not support the stage hands trying to get more money for doing things like that (yes this was the true tour).

This strike is very selfish and hurting a lot more people then it helps. Hurting the city and all the other non union employees just to help the stage hands.

[DoranC]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 8:01am

"I wasn't trying to give *you* advice..."

It doesn't matter, just stop giving travel advice period. Regardless of the justification of the strike, nobody turns to Local One for travel advice.


"...and nearly everyone is missing the bigger picture. Isn't it important to any of the fans that the union members have a fair contract (after not having a contract for a bit)? Clearly, the shows can't go up without local one....."

Yes, well, you know your own power. I guess?? that's a good thing. But lots of people only have your word to go on of what a 'fair contract' would look like and whether Local One would leap at it if they saw it. I've been trying to get an explanation of what precisely these work rules are that are the crux of the issue, and I don't think I yet understand them.


"Yes, I do understand that there are aspects of a trip that are non-refundable. With that in mind, why not take the trip anyway and make the most of it? Why swallow cancellation fees on top of the monies already paid? That makes little sense to me."

It should make sense. Because, even with non-refundables, it's still much less expensive to cancel a trip than go through with it. Clearly, some people will still go through with their trips, but others will not. And it's not up to Local One to be yelling at people for cancelling. Quit the travel advice and tell your union to get back in negotiations.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 8:01am

Winston i love you to bits and we are having a conversation over Private Messages at the moment but you are approaching this story as just a NY story.

By that i mean its almost like your are saying "oh well the tourists will find something else to do"

As ive send toy you in my message, its not about what else there is to do in NY, ive been to NY about 20-30 times because i have family there meaning i have done everything i want to in NY now, so my main reason for coming now is to see shows (i spend about a week there watching shows).So if i got there and they were no shows then what do i do?
It's like saying to someone who is at the airport getting a flight to Paris and been told "sorry we cant get you to paris today but how about going to germany instead?".Well you did not book for Germany, you had in mind things you wanted to do.

Also, the stage hands should have announced a DATE about a week in advance to stop people from waisting a LOT of money getting to NY only to be greeted with picketers.
And its not giving warning to the producers but to show some courtesy to the people who buy the tickets and keep them in jobs and pay their over priced wages.

[BroadwayBound86]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 8:08am

They've been on the brink of a strike for awhile now. At least from what I've been reading and keeping up on it. The news also reported a possible lockout back in September. You think with something that large the media would have choosen to give updates about it because it is having such an impact.

Edit : Thanks for the correction!
Updated On: 11/13/07 at 08:08 AM

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 8:27am

They were nothing to update in terms of when the strike would happen exactly, even though we all knew they were in talks etc the date just came out of the blue

[UnionMade]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 8:50am

MajorT
As I have previously stated to others who have made comments such as yours. I am insulted by your accusations. Us stagehands are family men who do care about the others we are affecting. It breaks our hearts to see little girls crying because they can't see there shows. We have set aside a portion of our defense fund(which comes out of our pocket) to help the other unions affected by the strike. I wish we could do more, but we can only do so much. The reason we are on strike is because the producers were unwilling to continue negotiating in "good faith". They walked away from the table and posted onerous work rules against this Local. As much as the producers want everyone to believe that this our "greedy" fault, they are the ones implemented this sign of "bad faith". If the were willing to pull these work rules and continue to honor the expired contract we would probably still be working now. So, if you have a problem call them at [phone] and ask them why they chose to force us to strike. These are not stupid people, they knew exactly how to make us look like the bad guy. And as far the stagehands on Victor Victoria you are talking about, touring stagehands are on a completely different contract and have nothing to do with Local ONE stagehands. And besides my little speculation is that these gentlemen you speak of had done there job or were waiting for cues. We love our jobs and a little play time between cues(as long as it doesn't affect the production) should not be criticized.
BB86
The "strike" back in September was actually a "lock-out" implemented by the producers. There was a period of about four days where we didn't know if we were going to be allowed into our theatres. But the media doesn't care to make the proper distinction in these matters. You'd also think that the media would be able to have unbiased coverage of these events. Are you aware that the Union had an hour long press conference on Sunday. Good luck finding any media coverage of it. People seem to think we are not talking to the media. But every time we do the media seem to run out of ink, lead, paint, batteries, or crayons and miss all this info.

[BroadwayBound86]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 9:03am

The "strike" back in September was actually a "lock-out" implemented by the producers. There was a period of about four days where we didn't know if we were going to be allowed into our theatres. But the media doesn't care to make the proper distinction in these matters. You'd also think that the media would be able to have unbiased coverage of these events. Are you aware that the Union had an hour long press conference on Sunday. Good luck finding any media coverage of it. People seem to think we are not talking to the media. But every time we do the media seem to run out of ink, lead, paint, batteries, or crayons and miss all this info.

Thanks for the correction. I do know that there was a press conference held. Unfurtunately I was only able to catch a few minutes of it. But thankfully to "that site" I can watch it now. It is unfortunate that the media cannot report without having an unbiased opinion on anything! Personally I get my news from outside sources. In reguards to the strike, it saddens me that none of this was followed. A simple segment perhaps after meetings were help to simply state whether or not an agreement had been reached would have been enough to put some information out there. It saddens me to only see one side of the story especially since most if not all of it is not factual.

[SamIAm]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 11:56am

When the transit workers went on strike, many people were also inconvenienced. When teachers go on strike, kids can't go to school. Theater is not alone in its sacrifice. Unions are unions and strikes happen. Yes, some tourists will feel burned, but in the past when there has been a strike, tourism has eventually come back.

If you want to say that there is a significant impact now you are right but it would have been worse in December and hopefully this will all be over in another week. The fact is that this could have been avoided by a bit of good bargaining. If there is a standoff, everyone gets hurt. But what is the option? There are union workers in other industries who have worked for a year or more without a contract. That doesn't work so well either.

[JenD512]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 12:02pm

"And the bottom line is that as much as this sucks for the audience, they aren't going to have to worry about paying next month's rent and bills. We really just want a little perspective here."

Hold on...since when do the audience members not worry about the same things? My sister and my brother-in-law have tickets for Spring Awakening tomorrow night. They struggle with those same things every month--plus they have a baby on the way. The tickets were for her birthday, and it's a huge deal for them to get the night in the city to see the show, as it's also probably their last big night out before the baby comes.

They're disappointed and angry about the strike, and I think they have every right to be. It's not that they don't care about anyone else's problems...but like my sister said, her birthday plans are wrecked--since they still haven't officially cancelled they show, so she doesn't want to make alternate plans and find out there is a show after all. She's 7-1/2 months pregnant, so their options in the city are somewhat limited. And she's been wanting to see this show for a long time.

They work really hard and they've earned their night out. It sucks that they probably won't be able go.

I just can't believe people wanting us to sympathize with them don't have any for the people who've been screwed out of tickets this week.

[robbiej]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 12:05pm

Oh God...don't even bring up that transit strike! I'm still pissed off about that.

This strike, I'm relatively ambivalent about. But that transit strike??? Talk about Asshole fighting Asshole. Wretched people all!

Updated On: 11/14/07 at 12:05 PM

[SamIAm]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 12:06pm

Of course audiences are disappointed. But life is full of disappointments. The fact is that my life did not end when a snow storm shut down mass transit and made it impossible for me to see a show for which I had waited 6 months. Yes, I was disappointed, but I lived.

For the people walking the picket line, this is their livelihood. If you get your money back, you WILL live. If you have no job, your family is in a lot more jeopardy than those who missed out on sitting in the audience.

Sorry. It is not that I am unsympathetic. I just think we have to keep life in perspective. Things happen...people miss special occasions and then learn to live with their disappointments.

[CJR]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 12:20pm

JenD -- it sucks for your sister. Nobody's saying it doesn't. And it's definitely disappointing. But your sister and brother in law work (if your sister is still working) under fair conditions, no? And they will be getting paid on pay day, right? Local One will not. I think that's where the request for a little perspective comes into play.

Updated On: 11/13/07 at 12:20 PM

[JenD512]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 1:09pm

"But your sister and brother in law work (if your sister is still working) under fair conditions, no? And they will be getting paid on pay day, right? Local One will not. I think that's where the request for a little perspective comes into play."

My sister is still working--but not under great conditions. She would have lost pay leaving early to see the show tomorrow. Under some NJ state law loophole, she's not even getting paid for 4 weeks once her maternity leave starts. My brother-in-law finally found a job that's starting to pay him decently, but they have a long way to go before things are financially great for them again.

So Broadway shows haven't been an option for them in awhile. The tickets were a gift from my parents, who have already offered to replace them once the strike is over, and I've already offered to babysit my new nephew for that night. But their immediate plans, which they've been looking forward to, are scrapped, and they're upset about it.

I completely sympathize with everything going on. I know too many people in the industry who are affected, and I understand how important the things they are fighting for are.

But I was looking at a non-theater related forum last night, and read a whole thread regarding the strike where people are scrambing trying to figure out what to do about vacations to NYC or birthday parties to The Little Mermaid, and I think they have a right to gripe about it. No one is really jumping on what's right or wrong, but on the whole situation of their not being a show.

I just hope it's over soon...I'm particularly worried about the people who are going to lose their jobs in the shows that don't reopen. It's just a lousy situation for everyone.

[kasim]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 1:43pm

"
It's New York City, for chrissakes. Would it kill them to explore the city? Go to a museum? See an off broadway show?"

Not that i have tickets right now ... nor actually will i book anytime in the near future (had planned for a january trip and cancelling it now)


But i have been to new york MANY times. While i do go see some new museum exhibits .. i mainly plan trips around shows i want to see.

About the NYC Taxi Drivers ... i thought their "strike" threatens were total BS.

As far as this goes .... you have to remember like all strikes ... it can hurt yourself as well.

[kasim]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 1:47pm

Couple questions -

1. Why are some shows closed, some open though?

2. Why did the union turn down mediation offers by the mayor?

[CJR]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 2:01pm

The shows that are open are in independent houses (ie: not Shubert, Nederlander etc) and have their own, separate contracts with the union. They're not affected by the strike unless IATSE has them walk in a show of solidarity (like it has been speculated about the tours across the nation)

Updated On: 11/13/07 at 02:01 PM

[kasim]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 2:19pm

CJR> Ahhh thanks.

Btw do you know any independent good sites to read both sides on?

Is this fairly neutral?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_stage_hand_strike Updated On: 11/13/07 at 02:19 PM