BROADWAY CANCELLED THROUGH 25 NOVEMBER — Page 4

True, it does give people a chance to re-arrange things, and I am sure those ticket holders are at least grateful for the notice.
But we also have to look at this as a flexing of the Leagues muscles. They walked away from the negotiating table at 9 pm the night before Thanksgiving week in the face of a crippling strike, not only for them but for the entire theater district and beyond.(I am selfishly concerned about my perennially insolvent Equity health insurance that is pretty much bankrolled by the production contract)
The league, IATSE, and everyone who reads this board knows that this is the biggest week of the season. Walking away the night before is the ultimate statement of "Bring it on, we can take it".
They have at least 20 million in the bank.

This is a Pi$$ing contest, pure and simple.
And it seems like it is going to get worse before it gets better.

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The blame here is not with the Producers... Its with the Union. The union is going to have to cave.... Money rules in this world. The truth is the producers have 20 million and the union only 4. This is not going to last for the union. As soon as the 4 million is gone they will cave. The union has caused thousands if not millions of people pain and anguish with their unrealistic demands. PERIOD.... THERE IS NO DISCUSSION. YOU DO NOT GET PAID FOR WORK YOU DON"T DO. How hard is that to Fu@king figure out. ANY IDIOT knows this. I love how people try to justify the pay with out work issue and it just makes them sound so stupid. You cannot compare actors or swings to the union rules.. they are two different things.
Truthfully I think ticket holders should sue the union for their trips to new york if they are traveling from somewhere else. If your vacation is to come here to see shows you should sue the Union. You are loosing the money to come here, the purpose of coming here.
From what I hear the actors union though verbally showing support for the stagehands has not shown a Physical presence of support to the stagehands. The actors know that this is rediculous and that it is hopeless. The actors union also knows that when the actors union contracts are up next year the stagehands will nowhere be seen.
I also feel that its Ironic that the stagehands outside the grinch, cyrano, and all short term shows... will be loosing their jobs. They aren't going to have a job after this. Basically if you went on strike you knew that you were quitting your job. Thats Pathetic!!!! The limited run shows producers should also sue the union as to purposely screwing them out of their business.
The Stagehands Union has completely lost all respect from I think everyone. The public, the actors, and even the producers. The next time I see I stagehand I will not look at them the same. Who am I kidding since this started and walking around times square I've wanted to smack some sense into them.
SAD, PATHETIC, LOOSERS IN THE END and ALWAYS WILL BE!!!

According to that press release, it sounds as if Local One made a compromise and the League said it still wasn't enough.

I just want this to end already. I'm scared this is going to close a few shows that I love but are struggling. And I feel bad for John Lloyd Young who won't get to properly end his three years in JERSEY BOYS with a last performance this Wednesday.

OH ALSO... Its not the producers who should give BCEFA the Money that they are loosing... ITS THE UNION. They are the selfish, Self important, Replacable idiots that are causing sick people not to get HELP. At this point the damage is done and BCEFA will suffer the consequences. PITTIFUL.
My heart goes out to BCEFA. I will be Donating More than i probably can this year out of respect for them.

Updated On: 11/19/07 at 01:36 AM

> According to that press release, it sounds as if Local One
> made a compromise and the League said it still wasn't enough.

From what I have been hearing this evening, this is correct. The union made many, many concessions (to the point that they weren't sure it could be sold to the rank and file for ratification). And still the League walked away from the table and left the building. And THEN canceled the week's performances, rather than seeking a return to the table.

The League has been warning them that there would be a lock out so there has been some preparation made for a work stoppage
Plus, there are still some bullets in the gun for IATSE. The rest of Local one can strike in solidarity. Also, in an extreme case, the other Locals around the country can strike the Tours, and a major source of revenue will be cut off.
I may be wrong, but I wouldn't count labor out just yet.

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Seriously, can we quit it with the uninformed speculation? Yes, the Seafarer is an issue financialy because it's already up and running and there's money going into keeping British actors here. But as far as The Homecoming, why would it not open? All of this money has already been invested, and if they never open, then they have no chance of making ANY of it back. Why would they not want to try? Why give up before they try? (Thanks to Margo for clearing that up for me.)

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Updated On: 11/19/07 at 01:53 AM

At this point I don't care who's at fault, they just need to get it settled. But I find it pretty clear cut who's being stubborn:

The stagehands were basically asking to maintain the status quo, and reportedly made concessions on several points commonly thought to be excessive.

The League came into negotiations this year with the intention of completely changing the way the contract works -- a contract they or their predecessors approved for the last 122 years or so -- and won't settle for less than everything they want. They could have come away with some of the most financially wasteful rules revised, and in four years or whatever could have a chance to reduce their costs further in the next round of negotiations.

I don't see how any union could accept an offer requiring such sweeping losses all at once. It's just too radical a change from the way things were two weeks ago, it has nothing to do with whether the rules were a good idea in the first place. I think fundamentally that's the lack of respect that Local 1 was talking about -- the League is not negotiating, they're just saying "here's a completely unreasonable offer: accept it or else!"

I was hoping for a resolution after a week-long strike, but this is just going to get bloodier. The producers see this as their big chance to take back a lot of ground they feel they gave up too easily over the last 10 years. Their $20 million has to cover show costs, not rent. They are not worried about losing the holiday weekend. They actually need this strike to last a while now because they need Local One's money to run out to the point where the members are having trouble paying rent. While I agree with some of the changes they are trying to make, I really wish they weren't trying to do it all at once since that seems to be a major point of resistance.

I've tried to be positive about the negotiations, but this is just bad for all of us and it's just going to get a lot worse.

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Unions are just some of the reasons in this country that prices are rising on various things and the reason why i'm sure many of our products in america are being forced to be made in LEAD poisoning China.

Yes, because you sound like such a professional...

And FYI, I'm not in Local 1, so I've no clue what point you thought you were making. I could be on either side of this couldn't I? Or neutral. Or see both sides. Or in doubt.

But what I will be is rational, mature, and understanding of the realities in all of this and not some hysterical, shrieking harpie. And that has nothing to do with your stance in this debate and everything to do with your tone and rationality.

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This is all just so sad. As a member of the WGA, I can justify our strike action by saying that it really isn't hurting the public that much (there's always reruns, cable, and hey, read a book) after all, we're saving you from extra episodes of "Flash Gordon." Sure, the grips and costumers and assistants are losing money but at least we aren't peeing on the public. Yet.

THIS strike, however is directly ruining so many people's holiday plans. The thousands of people who booked tickets and now have their trips to New York ruined, the kids who wanted to see shows during Thanksgiving. This strike is harming the public. And that's a very bad thing for any entertainment union and producers to do.

They should gt back to the table immediately.

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fengshuihellnyc, I agree with you... I have several friends who are currently performing on Broadway. Funny, not one of them has a nice thing to say about the Stagehands or their Union. Yes, Equity is "supporting" them on the outside. They have to, basically. But, behind the scenes they are not. From what my friends are telling me, most actors are not. Marc Shaiman didn't have a nice thing to say about them in the Sunday Star Ledger.

I'm glad the producers are standing their ground. It's time that these archaic rules change. Oh, sure.. Local One wanted to make concessions and go back to the old contract.. WRONG! It's time to face the facts. They have had this cushy contract and rules for far too long. No work, no pay! That's it...

Once again, this just proves that it maybe time to do away with these Unions. A Union free Broadway maybe in site...