Local One union boss blew the deal ..so says The NY POST

[billynj]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 9:39am

BROADWAY FLOP
By MICHAEL RIEDEL, MATT NESTEL and ANDY GELLER


"We presented a comprehensive proposal that responded to the union's concerns about loss of jobs and earnings, and attempted to address our need for some flexibilities in running our business," Charlotte St. Martin, the executive director of the LATP, said in a statement.

"The union rejected our effort to compromise and continues to require us to hire more people than we need."

Sources close to the producers said a rift between Tom Short, head of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, and James Claffey, head of Local One, which falls under the international's umbrella, led to the impasse.

One source said Short and Robert Johnson, a lawyer from Disney negotiating for the producers, were confident they had reached a pact that would be acceptable to the union. But Claffey overruled their deal, the source said.

"Claffey is in the hot seat," said a veteran Broadway producer.

The producers are now counting on anger from the Local One rank and file and from unions for musicians and actors to pressure Claffey to fold.


full article is here
http://www.nypost.com/seven/11192007/news/regionalnews/broadway_flop_381880.htm
Updated On: 11/19/07 at 09:39 AM

[leko2]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 9:49am

1. Stagehands do not make $150,000 a year.

2. Stagehands are not "furniture moving types of guys."

3. Who reads the reads and believes everything written in the post?

[Lauren_T]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 9:58am

This whole strike thing is nasty and selfish! I think it is disgusting what the stagehands are pulling. I walked by the "Curtains" theatre Saturday night and they had tables filled with coffee and half eaten sheet cakes..it looked more like a party than a strike. And what I dont understand...they strike for a long period of time...a shows closes...they are out of a job...hmmmm? It just stupid! Selfish! Selfish! Selfish! Selfish! I know I will probably get "yelled" at via message board, but..O WELL!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 9:59am

3. Billynj

[bwaygal1]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 10:02am

Lauren-I walked by the O'Neill Theater yesterday-same story. Coffee, donuts, cakes, cookies. Geez. It makes it look like they WANT to be doing this instead of working and drives people like me (I was to see "Seafarer" last week-a true Connor McPherson lover right here! And now, I don't know if I'll EVER see it, thank you) crazy. It also makes my sympathy for their cause ebb quite a bit. Ugh.

And I totally agree about the irony of this-there are shows that will close as a result of this-then they'll be out of work.

[billynj]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 10:07am

well at least the local pastry shop is still making money

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 10:14am

I saw a chafing dish outside of the O'Neill Theatre yesterday! Outrage!

They're on strike! They should be starving!

Hell, strip them of their hats, coats, gloves...make 'em walk around naked!

That'll teach 'em for fighting for what they want!

[CJR]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 10:14am

From someone who was on a line last night, let me set something straight.

Nobody WANTS to be there. The food? It's coming from other people. One of the musicians showed up with 2 boxes of donuts and was there in a showing of support. The coffee? Coming from local delis. Being brought on their own accord. It's cold out there -- some guys have been out there all day.... You get tired and thirsty and hungry. Ya gotta eat.

[Lynnespock2]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 10:17am

Billynj: The Post is historically anti union. The producers walked out of the negotiations first. They have a large strike fund collected from "restoration fees" over the years.

Stagehands do NOT make 150,000 a year. The figure is exaggerated and even if a few of them did make 80,000 or so, this figure, which is thrown about, included fringe benefits such as medical, dental, pension and the like, which is not direct income.

If you believe everything you read in the NY Post, I wonder if you believe the National Inquirer too? There is almost as much
spurious information in the Post.

[leko2]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 10:19am

You're right. Let's have a few hundred people outside in the cold for a few hours and require them to walk a picket line with no food or beverages. And also, let's not try and do anything to raise their spirits. You guys can strike, but don't expect to feel good about yourself and heaven forbid if people bring you food that you eat it.

[alex2155]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 10:20am

Sorry if this is a stupid question but...do you have to walk the picket line if you are a stagehand? And if you are, are there requirements on how many hours you have to be out there everyday?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 10:27am

(I hope everyone noted my sarcasm.)

Regarding the Post and Unions, yes, Lynnespock is correct.

When the union members at the Post went on strike in the early '90s as Murdoch took over, he felt no need to hire any of them back. My father who worked in the advertising dept., was one of the negotiators.

Hates Murdoch to this day.

[Lynnespock2]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 10:35am

Yes, Yankee, I caught the sarcasm. I join your father in hating Murdoch. He is a low life.

[CJR]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 10:37am

Murdoch is a douche. My grandfather was with the Daily News though, so we had little to no dealings with him

[B3TA07]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 10:42am

This thread was so fun:

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=946807#3278521

Oh the memories.

[leko2]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 10:57am

alex: there are requirements for picketing. Each member of local one has been issued a picket number upon joining the local. If you're number comes up for that day, or you're already working at a place on strike, then you have to picket. As for time requirements, I want to say it's 4 hours per show call but I'm not entirely sure.

lame |33+ name guy: are you that much of an attention whore that you need to post a link to a topic you created almost a month ago?

[massofmen]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 11:10am

they do make around that with overime and bonuses. ask any of them. asst props on a friends show made 130,000 last yr. ASSISTANT!

alot of them are unslkilled workers (props, spot ops) who get paid a wonderful salary and amazing benefits.

they will still have a JOB people. Because they are local one. just because their show closes dosen't mean they have to get another one. cause in a matter of months, someone else will come into their theater. they live at that theater.
when les mis closes cat on a hot tin roof will come in and they will have another job.

gimme a break.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 11:26am

"they do make around that with overime and bonuses. ask any of them. asst props on a friends show made 130,000 last yr. ASSISTANT!"

And did you ask him how many hours a week he had to work to make that much, and whether or not it came from working on only one show? I know you didn't, and I can guarantee that he probably did more work in a month than you did all year.

[don logan]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 11:26am

1) I wonder if the people who think the local one guys are having fun on the picket line have ever stood out in the cold in November for over 6 hours.

2) The producers walked out, according to NYT, CNN, NY1

3) Overtime= you work more hours. Should they work extra hours for free? I guess cops who make a lot of money for OT shouldn't be paid either. Damn unions

[paphillyguy]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 11:27am

Lynnespock2 - Please show the proof that the restoration fees were used in the strike fund. There is no proof so to throw around that statement as if it was fact is wrong.

CJR - I can see how highly educated you must be by the language you chose to use. Intelligent people always resort to name calling.

[Lynnespock2]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 11:28am

A matter of months? Can you live without a pay check for months? And what will the requirements for that show be? How does the stagehand know if he or she will have a job?

Most of the stagehands ARE skilled. Please do all of us a favor, either proofread your posts or have someone else write for you. Sheesh!

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 11:33am

The Post is just repeating the League's line. It's no surprise they're saying what they are. They're spinning this as much as they can to try to make Local One look bad. I'll believe the Times over the Post, and the Times said the League walked out.

As to the complaints about food on the picket lines...for God's sake. They're out there for hours on end. It's cold. Of course they're going to have something to eat every now and then. It's not as if they're having a block party out there.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 11:37am

billynj:

So which one are you? MICHAEL RIEDEL, MATT NESTEL and ANDY GELLER?

Because if you are not one of these three men, then you are plagiarizing by copying and pasting the entire article without providing a link to the source.

In fact, you cannot even copy and paste the entire article and provide a link to the source.

You are only allowed to paste portions of the article, in addition to providing a link to the full article. Otherwise you are creating a liability situation for the site on which you are doing so.

Updated On: 11/19/07 at 11:37 AM

[leko2]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 11:38am

massofmen: how are these people unskilled and what wonderful benefits do they get? Do you even know how the local one benefits program works?

Just because a show closes and another one comes in doesn't mean that you still have a job. If, Les Mis has 6 carpenters and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof has 3, what happens to the other three guys? Do they just sit in the back room playing poker all night? I don't think so.

And just because you don't know what stagehands do, doesn't mean that they are unskilled workers. The job that you see them do, or don't see them as is usually the case, is only a small portion of what they actually do. Just because someone is in a truss 40 feet in the air over the audience running a spotlight doesn't mean that they don't know how to do anything else. Secretaries answer phones and make copies all day. They must be unskilled as well.

[CJR]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 11:48am

CJR - I can see how highly educated you must be by the language you chose to use. Intelligent people always resort to name calling.

Rupert Murdoch IS a douche. I could give you a laundry list of very factual reasons why. But I won't because I dont have that kind of time.

Not for nothing, if you paid attention to any of my other posts, you would see that I'm well educated and well informed on the issues I chime in on. Murdoch has nothing to do with the strike. The only reason he came up in this thread was the fact that he owns the post, thereby questioning the veracity of "facts" that come out of it.