Some questions for the Local 1 guys on this board — Page 2

Snafu, do all the stagehands live in Manhattan?

As I said in my original post, I understand the cost of living is higher in New York City, but I do believe I could live comfortably there if I grossed 67000 a year.

Updated On: 11/14/07 at 12:52 PM

No Albin they don't, but rents and mortgages anywhere within an easy commute to the city are MUCH MUCH higher then that in Buffalo. Believe me, $67,000 a year for anyone who works and lives near NYC is a tight squeeze. Granted elsewhere in the State or country for that matter, if seems like a lot! I am not taking sides on this matter. I just know from working and living here that $67,000 is barely enough for a single person to surrvive on comfortably let alone a family.

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Updated On: 11/14/07 at 01:11 PM

> Is the center of all of this on the load-ins?

No, it is only one of many areas where the producers have been looking for changes.

> When I hear that stagehands are leaving early but getting paid
> for a full day or that when one stagehand gets paid overtime,
> the rest do also even if they didn't work overtime, is this for

Neither of these bits are factual, so I think you may be misunderstanding what you've been reading. We generally work on a basis of "calls". Depending on when that "call" is held, it is either a four hour call or an eight hour call (there are a few exceptions I won't go into -- 1 hour calls, a special type of 2-hour call, etc) or a "show call". Depending on when in the production process or run of the show the call is held, there may be only one employee on the call, or there may be dozens. During any four or eight hour call, all of the employees on that call work the full four or eight hours (though if they run out of work for us to do, we may be dismissed early). We don't get paid when we're sitting at home (how I wish we did). A "show call" ends when the curtain comes in at the end of the show. One of the disputes in this is that the producers have sought to redefine when the show call ends, now they want it to end, for instance, at 11PM rather than when the curtain comes in, and do things like have us set up the next day's show, thus reducing most of the show crew's work week pay by 8 hours. That works out to about a 20% cut in gross pay for each week during the run of the show. And that is one of the things the producers implemented on us last month.

If you're an Equity member, imagine this scenario: you've been a chorus member on a show that's a year or two into its run. The show ends at 10:15. One day, the Producers come to you and say "from now on, we're doing either a brush-up vocal rehearsal or dance rehearsal, after every single show, until 11PM, and you'll be getting no additional pay for it, and this is to avoid paying you for weekly rehearsals during the days". How well would that go over with the cast?

> Also, do the stagehands that are hired for the loadins also
> work the show's run or are there other stagehands hired for the
> run?

Three will be there for the run, for sure. The head carpenter, the head electrician, and the head prop person. Other than that, it depends on the show. Those three are the only "guaranteed" positions.

Updated On: 11/14/07 at 03:25 PM

"Nurses/doctors, stagehands, TV show writers, trash collectors I understand their jobs are vital and need to be taken care of. Stop the madness and accommodate them!

All of whom belong to unions. As for someone elses comment about $67,000 being enough...they are NOT arguing for pay increases...they are simply fighting for their right to work. And that is ONLY if they work the full year...which most don't. As I said in another post, who would you rather determine how many stagehands are needed to SAFELY load-in a show and run it: stagehands or the producers? I would rather have more stagehands than necessary than less, and you know that the producers would hire less than what is needed to do it. I wouldn't want to be on stage when a spotlight comes crashing down because a stagehand was overworked because there weren't enough of them to do the job.

Well not knowing everything, I am tending, now to sway towards the side of the stagehands. I was in the middle on this. As I have posted in other threads, I am bothered by the producers' "warchest". I had no idea I was paying a surcharge for the past few years for this. I really want to know where that money is going.

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Updated On: 11/14/07 at 03:55 PM

This is some good information. Thanks for giving it to us. Some of the union publications are myred in vague wording that reflecting emotional appeals rather than logical ones, which makes it easy to side with the producers. Your info is very much appreciated!
Broadway Blog: Wicked: The Grimmerie

I work in another theater though I won't say which one. We are all in the same union and can work on Broadway, Radio City, Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, television studios and various other venues. I could quit my job today and move to Broadway but it would be hard to make all of the contacts I would need to make enough money on Broadway for quite a while.
Regardless of what is being reported by some, Broadway pay isn't great considering our cost of living here. You really have to work a ton of hours in several different theaters usually to support a family. Local 1 members usually have a preference as to what type of theater they like to work in. They are all different in several different ways. One example is most people would think I am crazy if they heard how many hours I have to work in a week in my venue. I don't see much of my family.
p.s. before people attack I'm not complaining.

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I love that this thread has stayed cordial and informative. All recent questions have been very well answered. I have been doing my best to find answers to questions on this board while working the picket lines. To be honest I did not have every answer and am only willing to give answers to things I believe I can truthfully answer.
I wanted to add a little info that I found today. I was talking with one of the Broadway Technical Supervisors today. A Technical Supervisor is hired by the producers and is in charge of setting calls during load-ins/outs and to put it basically to keep the flow and efficiency of the process moving. We were talking about the new minimum hiring numbers that the League is proposing. He was using a rather small load-in for a straight play as an example. He told me that there is no way he can get the show loaded in, in the time frame the producers want with the new minimum numbers.

This is all very interesting, but I will say that while $67,000 is a lot of money, many of you are underestimating the cost of living in NYC. I would say its far more than 150% the cost of living in, say, Buffalo. Not only are rents more expensive, so is everything else. You simply cannot compare a NYC salary with a salary in a smaller city. Its not the same thing.

There are plenty of people who survive in NYC on far less than $67,000, but that doesn't mean its a good thing and who wants to just get by?

Roadguy, take out taxes and all the costs of living, I don't think that they have that much left over to buy that penthouse. And I doubt all stagehands are doing back to back load-in's all year.

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Updated On: 11/15/07 at 11:05 AM

Happy to see people getting informed. Now let's get both sides in a room to resolve this. I'm starting to freak out that my show will close.

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In fact, I'll even thank BrianS for starting one of the most interesting and technical questions I've ever seen on this board.

And I'm sorry if I pooped all over you, kid. It's just that, as a member of the WGA, I've been suffering through all sorts of planted questions about MY union on movie boards and I kinda thought you were doing the same. Clearly I was wrong.

I used to work as a stagehand in college at the National Arts Center in Ottawa, Canada, the biggest professional theater in the country (or one of, before FrontRowCentre corects me!) and I can tell you one other learned fact:

If I was an actor, creator, producer or yes, a stagehand, I'd want the guys rigging and lashing the heavy equipment which hangs over my head during each performance and rehearsal to be the best-paid guys in the house. Bar none.

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Great post with well intentioned answers. However, Bugemenot, I think even you are misinformed as to the position of the producers on the 'show call' consideration. the producers want to have the flexibility to have the local one members perform necessary work during the 'show call' not just show related work. Local one members are not paid by the show, they are paid by the hour so if a show runs from 8-10:35 the stage hands are paid up to 11pm. However, at the close of the show, they are not permitted to do any other work for the remaining 25 minutes until 11. If work is required the stage hands want to be paid another full hour starting at 10pm. That just seems to be unfair.

Furthermore, your use of the actor's rehearsal analogy is flawed in that the actors don't get paid extra for rehearsals. They are contracted to rehearse for 8 hours per week without any extra compensation. Having been in Broadway shows myself, I have always envied the stage hands who were being paid to be in the theater while we rehearsed for no extra compensation. Mind you not all stage hands have much to do during the rehearsal call so there is a lot of soduku and magazine reading going on then.

Updated On: 11/15/07 at 04:27 PM