Local 1's statement -- are they serious?

in NYC 150,000 is practically survival salary for a family

"I'm SURE it's more than teachers make. Probably police and firemen too..."

All of which have the option of looking for more lucrative employment, if they are dissatisfied with their current income.

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Actually a lot of teachers in NY make ~100K a year.

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That's irrelevant when 100k a year is middle class!

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As a union member you should recognize that all that you read in the paper might be news but not the truth.
As for you statement that class warfare is dead, I would suggest that this is a point of view of someone would is engaged in a defensive position. Are you better off than your parents were? Is your salary going further? Do you have, say, six months of living expenses in savings? Are the politicians and ideologues telling you what to teach? Do you find the mass media stimulating? The NEA's budget was cut by 40%. Is art easier for children to reach and experience?
Did the American automakers, in moving their operations overseas, lower the cost of their vehicles? If the League gets a 38% reduction in their labor costs, do you really think they will lower ticket prices? If you read their earlier press releases you will find that the driving motivation behind their position is to return investors money sooner. Does this sound to you like they want to reduce ticket prices? When the Producers forced the musicians to strike over the size of the orchestra and artificial music, were they talking about lowering ticket prices? No. They were talking about recouping investors’ money sooner.
As far as a thriving Broadway, in 1986 the BO grosses ranged in the vicinity of $426,236,764. In ten years grosses grew to $1,198,400,658, more than double. Last year the grosses were $1,393,491,253.Those big numbers that were not achieved by lowering ticket prices. And I can guarantee you that the salaries of the actors, musicians, stagehands, ushers or BO personnel did not go up in the same proportion.
Shows lose money because they are not very good. We can’t help that it’s the nature of the business. The straw man argument is that 4 out of 5 shows lose money, ergo it’s the stagehands fault. I know of no show that got bad reviews and closed because of the set, lighting or props. The saying backstage is that if the audience is looking at the lighting, your show in trouble.
As far as what the stagehands have compared to what you have, the vast majority of us don't make what you have. We live from job to job, event to event. That's the nature of the business and we knew this from day one. The fact that teachers are so underpaid is a stinging confirmation that class warfare is indeed going on in this country. We entrust our children, the future, in your hands. They deserve the best as well as those who teach them.

Hey Just A Guy

The same thing applies to Local 1 members. If things are so bad for them, maybe they should look elsewhere for employment. I am quite sure many out of work, with proper training, would take the jobs Local 1 seems to hate & would be ecstatic.

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$500 to mop the stage?

Well, that certainly sounds like a fair wage.

And that's on top of their hourly wage.

Teachers make more than that in one day.

Go Union!!!

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if you don't like the job quit

the same with the old overweight cocktail waitresses its a job not a career if you want a career go to school and get a sheepskin

its not your right to get a raise year after year, no more than the old llady serving drinks should be looking for tips in a casino 23 years past her prime. leave some good jobs for the kids if you dont like your pay rate RETIRE

blood sucking union leaches

Christ, did I accidentally log on to FreeRepublic?

It's also a matter of the jobs the stagehands fulfill are both highly skilled and highly dangerous. That's a combination that leads to a big salary. If you have a problem with that, become a stagehand.

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A class war has been going on for years already.

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"But they (and all of us) should be treated with respect...and should not expect their salary to be CUT without something else being offered as compensation"

That is just plain wrong. I'm sorry, no offense, people, but please do your part and educate yourselves on this issue. Nobody is cutting salaries; Wages is not what this debate is about. The producers are simply looking to pay people for the work they do and not have to pay extra people to sit around and do nothing. If you were a business owner, would you tolerate paying an employee to sit around and do nothing? Currently, if producers need carpenters for 10 weeks, they have to hire electrics and props for 10 weeks as well, regardless of whether there is work for them to do. If they need electrics to work overtime, everyone has to get paid overtime as well. IATSE's final proposal included mandates that producers hire a Fly Person at every show, regardless of whether a show had scenery that needed to be flown in. Does that seem fair to you?

I am an Equity actor, and I urge all my union brothers and sisters NOT to support IATSE in this selfish tirades. They are ruining the credibility of unions for everyone. IATSE has never bothered to support Equity in their fight. If IATSE members had refused to work on non-union tours, there would now be more union tours and more Equity members working.

The producers seem to respect their skilled labor and unions in general. They recognize that Broadway unions are among the most skilled and talented labor in the world. $150,000 is on the low end of what stagehands make. The median is more like $200,000. I WISH I could make that much as an actor! They need to stop whining and do what is best for the entire industry.