How Long Might The Strike Last? — Page 3

PERSONALLY I THING THAT MOST OF THE UNION WORKERS ARE LUCKY THEY AREN"T JUST A BUNCH OF JANITORS. They should praise whoever gave them thier first job

Bobby they already have. Pls read the articles BWW have put up for us. Just because the news shows up in International Newspapers doesn't make it so. They just pick up news from the NY Times. Please, you must check the sources. My Family, friends are trained and educated Engineers, this is why I know the figures are wrong. I even checked the NY want ads from Money Magazine, just for a ballpark figure of what they are paying top Engineers these days in New York. I know how much some CEO' make too.

I have great respect for Actors who work hard, as much as I do Stagehands, Producers the whole lot. I just realize there are more issues than what we see here. We have even had Engineers come here from the Local One to speak out. We do have propaganda from both sides. It is just any remarks made by St Martin are biased. Same can be said for some of what Chaffey says too. I just know that $65,000 is a lot closer and honest. Whenever anyone makes a general statement like St. Martin did and said "up to" that is the very highest and you better believe it includes whatever incentives, bonus' and keychains they ever gave to that one person who is getting that check.

I wish you luck in making more money but please, at least learn what it takes to become an Engineer before you knock them too much. There are always screw-ups but you have probably worked with Actors who can't find their way out of a paper bag either but they do try! It is complicated and the details are boring. Most here don't even want to know what goes on during a contract negotiation.

I am sure you and your friends are peeved to have to honor this strike. No one wants to lose a paycheck. Do you though really want to upset those who make sure and fight to keep you safe working on stage? Or do you want to find yourself in the dark, refunding tickets or your show closing because of an electrical problem or someone there can't fix your mic? It is a team effort. If you aren't playing with the team than you could get left out in the cold. Now especially is when you need to work with your friends and colleagues to get out the right information.

It will be the Stagehands Union who will be paying to help you out with what they can. If they lose too much, you can count on your losing just as much if not more when your turn to negotiate comes up next year. Are you going to be the guy the Stagehands look back at and say you were the one who spit in their face and called them greedy? At least ask the stagehands to give you an idea of what they are making. They can't tell you exactly, their bosses get upset when they do but they will give you an idea and it isn't anywhere near what the Boss is stating.

everyone keeps saying that we shouldn't be using a salary number "with benefits", and then spewing a bunch of junk as though union employees are treated the same as Sarah Jones working at McDonald's.

Every union job, and every union employee should have the "with benefits" added to their salary, as there are things that employers pay to union employees that you and I will never see the like of. Having worked in payroll for over 15 years now, I would never look at a union employee and take their cash wages as "what they make". This holds true for any union. I'm not familiar with the stagehands union, and I'm not taking sides. I'm pointing out that a lot of people are making assumptions regarding what the producers are paying out as "benefits" without knowing the first thing about how a union shop works.

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"A musicians starting salary w/out doubles"

What are doubles?

I understand Whatever2. Thanks for clarifying. I didn't mean to insinuate you were intentionally being offensive. I apologize if it came off that way. One of the reasons I started paying for my employees health insurance fully is precisely what you alluded to in your post. I was, at one time payng only half of the cost, but found that the employees didn't want to pay half (sadly, with the rising costs, couldn't afford to really and I say that as their employer) or they just wanted me to give them the money and they would remain un-insured. It was counter-productive from a business standpoint. My decision to pay for it entirely was a benefit to me as well as them, I now find that with insurance coverage they're more apt to seek medical attention, get yearly physicals, and just generally take better care of themselves on a regular basis. A healthy employee makes for a better, more productive employee, and a productive employee makes for a happier me.

Here's my earlier post:

From the NY Times:

"Stagehands fall into four wage categories. The highest-paid, like head carpenters and electricians, currently earn a minimum of $1,600 a week on a running show; stagehands in the lowest-paid category make a minimum of around $1,225. With overtime, additional work assignments and certain premium payments, wages can end up being quite a bit higher."


I know those are minimums and some stagehands make more than those figures, but I'm sorry, even with overtime I can't see how those numbers would add up to anywhere near an average of $200,000/year. Heck, I know school teachers who make in the $1200-1600/week range. That's just a middle class income for NYC -- and that's only if you're working on a show for a full 52 week year which most wouldn't (only a small minority of stagehands, actors, musicians, et al are in the long-running hits and most are unemployed for many weeks of the year).

Not taking sides here, but PLEASE stop tossing around that $200,000 figure as if it's gospel, because obviously it's not.


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/theater/11broadway.html?pagewanted=2&ref=nyregion

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