Atlantic Theatre crew voting to join union

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 1/29/24 at 4:10pm

I came across this article on Broadway Journal, don’t know how valid a source it is. However, I found this article interesting nonetheless. Kind of surprising to find out that the Atlantic used unions for everything else but their stage crew.

 

http://broadwayjournal.com/atlantic-theater-workers-lead-off-broadway-union-drive/

Updated On: 1/29/24 at 04:10 PM

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 1/29/24 at 4:39pm

Excellent. Power to the people!

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 1/29/24 at 6:37pm

Interesting to note that the commercial off-Bway runs of LITTLE SHOP and TITANIQUE are also talking of unionizing, per the article.

It can be a tricky conversation when it comes to off-Broadway & regional unionization, because you also have people in key administrative roles making like...$40K a year for 40+ hour weeks. (Some do get healthcare and other benefits of salary, though.) So if the stagehands & production staff want to unionize, I do think their whole staffs should be talking about doing it too, though would obviously not be the same unions.

With commercial Off-Bway runs, sometimes non-union houses are chosen specifically because they don't have union overhead. And that can be a reason not to do a show.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 1/29/24 at 7:22pm

If a show needs to treat workers unfairly in order to exist, I would prefer that it not exist.

[sinister teashop]

Posted: 1/29/24 at 11:45pm

The Broadway Journal article by Philip Boroff is excellent, really well reported. Thank you for posting Islander_fan.

I was interested to find out that Roundabout partnered with IATSE in 2016 to create a training program for backstage crews. They are particularly interested in training young nyc "people of color, women, and LGBTQ+ individuals". That is great but once you've trained these young people you need to offer them a living wage. 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 1/30/24 at 1:46pm

It was a passing mention, but it seems like Buena Vista Social Club is also intending to transfer to Broadway.