Broadway Legend Joined: 3/23/17
sppunk said: "I work for a union that has had two strikes. We are back in nyc to see shows Nov 7-10 and I am packing signs to join picket lines. I am assuming the league won’t agree to being good and a strike is called.
OK
Hope they resolve things soon or drag out longer as we are coming Nov 4-7 to see Godot and Just in Time. Does anyone have a reliable crystal ball to predict the likelihood of us seeing those shows
Both unions are in talks with the League this week. I imagine we’ll know either by the end of Friday or early next week.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
"The stagehands' strike in 2007 saw the majority of shows go dark(Nov. 10-2."
Point of clarification: the stagehands had voted to authorize a strike, but the League locked them out, which...didn't make a lot of sense.
Regarding the possibility of virtual orchestras? It was a complete and unmitigated disaster last time. The karaoke machine (as it was called at the time) kept getting lost, repeating itself, and so on.The technology wasn't even close to there.
I do remember a 2 day musician strike in the aughts. IATSE Local One honored the strike, so that was that. Over the years, I have observed that Hogan's Hero is almost uniformly correct, so I'm not sure what happened in that situation that made Local One's honoring the musician's strike legal.
ghostlight2 said: "I do remember a 2 day musician strike in the aughts. IATSE Local One honored the strike, so that was that. Over the years, I have observed that Hogan's Hero is almost uniformly correct, so I'm not sure what happened in that situation that made Local One's honoring the musician's strike legal."
Thanks for your kind words (although I have never observed quite as uniform correctness :-) ). To prove the latter, I think I missed the point I am getting ready to make.
I don't recall anything about that strike, but the circumstances would have been that, without musicians, the struck shows were not going to go on.in any event (absent something idiotic like a virtual orchestra). In that circumstance, some stagehands may have picketed with the musicians, but without musicians, I can't imagine that the producers intended to put on the shows on which they worked. (That would also apply to the AFM/AEA [and/or any other secondary union] in the present scenario.) Thus IATSE had nothing to strike or boycott; it was just talk to say they were "honoring" the picket line (normally meaning not crossing it. There is no law against showing support that is not calling a boycott or strike and that's all they could do..
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
Well, HogansHero, I'll say you were right over the years more often than not.
I did a little research, which refreshed my memory. From this article:
"Last night, the producers left talks with the musicians, their offers far apart, and it was unclear when negotiations might resume. The producers had hoped to present their musicals last night with computer-generated sound -- so-called virtual orchestras.
But the producers apparently did not expect the actors and stagehands to respect the musicians' picket lines, and decided to close the shows."
Also this:
"Late yesterday afternoon, Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents the stagehands, voted to honor the picket line. ''How can we be a union in the entertainment business and not stick up for another union?'' said Edward McConway, the president of Local 1. ''It's morally reprehensible.''
Shortly afterward, Actors' Equity Association, which represents actors, also came out in support of the musicians. The last time the actors went on strike was in 1960. ''Our members made it clear that they do not wish to perform to virtual orchestras,'' said Patrick Quinn, president of the actors' union, in a statement. ''Our members also believe that live music is essential on Broadway and that minimums are appropriate and necessary.''
So the timeline was that the producers made a final absurd offer, and when it was rejected, they walked away from negotiations, knowing full well that the musicians would almost certainly strike - and they did. At which point the producers, yes indeed, planned on using the virtual orchestra...and that's when IATSE took a vote to honor the musicians' strike, and it was game over.
The producers did not expect IATSE to step in. AEA followed suit, because, well, they had to. The producers dodged a bullet, imo. Had IATSE not held that vote, and the producers had gone forward with their karaoke machines, it would almost certainly have been a trainwreck, if the two shows I saw rehearsing the VO were any example. They couldn't even get through a single song without getting offtrack.
Theater-goers would have been demanding their money back long before Act 2 started.
Chorus Member Joined: 2/26/23
aces25 said: "Any update following yesterday’s meeting?"
No official updates from Actors Equity. I’m sure we will hear something by mid day today.
i guess no news is good news?
AEA just announced in IG that a tentative agreement was reached.
Kad said: "AEA just announced in IG that a tentative agreement was reached."
WOOHOO!!!
Featured Actor Joined: 4/8/08
ACL2006 said: "Kad said: "AEA just announced in IG that a tentative agreement was reached."
WOOHOO!!!"
Yes good news.
I still put the odds at 50-50 whether there’s a strike in the next week or two, because of Local 802, where the negotiations are not going quite as well. (Hey at least that’s better than when I woke up this morning, before the AEA news, when I would’ve put the odds at closer to 75%.)
Kad said: "AEA just announced in IG that a tentative agreement was reached."
Is it a good deal?
EDSOSLO858 said: "Kad said: "AEA just announced in IG that a tentative agreement was reached."
Is it a good deal?"
Details still forthcoming.
ghostlight2 said: "The producers did not expect IATSE to step in. AEA followed suit, because, well, they had to. The producers dodged a bullet, imo. Had IATSE not held that vote, and the producers had gone forward with their karaoke machines, it would almost certainly have been a trainwreck, if the two shows I saw rehearsing the VO were any example. They couldn't even get through a single song without getting offtrack."
A late followup, possibly of interest to no one but you and me.
First, and TBC, the VO is not going to be a strategy in any current strike scenario.
Second, based on what you quote, I do not believe that AEA expresses anything illegal. I believe the stagehands did, technically, but I also believe that it essentially became a non-issue because (a) I don't believe the VO was ever going to come to fruition (at least not at the League level) and (b) the strike was over almost before it started (and on a weekend when no legal action was going to happen in any event). [I think the smarter League members knew then what you know now about the notion of the VO, at least without SIGNIFICANT rehearsal that did not and could not happen. Furthermore, these same sages knew that it represented an existential threat from a marketing standpoint.]
Finally, should the musicians strike now (obviously only shows in which they have contracts), any action by the unaffiliated unions would be irrelevant because there would be no pretense of putting on a musical without music by producers.
=====
And long-term crystal ball thoughts:
1. I don't think we will ever see a VO proposed. IMO that ship has sailed (and done its best imitation of the plot of the 1997 best musical).
2. Long term, I think the most controversial aspects of the 502 agreement will diminish and that fair arbitration will become a much more significant aspect of the CBA.
EDSOSLO858 said: "Kad said: "AEA just announced in IG that a tentative agreement was reached."
Is it a good deal?"
For whom? LOL
Also, just because I am curious, is it "in IG" or "on IG"? Luckily, IG's NY offices are in, not on, the former Wanamaker (later VNU) building at 770 Broadway that I suspect most of us now call the Wegman's building.
HogansHero said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "Kad said: "AEA just announced in IG that a tentative agreement was reached."
Is it a good deal?"
For whom? LOL
Also, just because I am curious, is it "in IG" or "on IG"? Luckily, IG's NY offices are in, not on, the former Wanamaker (later VNU) building at 770 Broadway that I suspect most of us now call the Wegman's building."
On IG. Instagram
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