I just wanted to put in my 2 cents because I am still on the fence about "who is being greedy" - as a lot of people have mentioned on this board - NOT EVERYONE - but a lot of people. And I am gonna put in some questions too because I am a musician (AFM) and I would love to understand more of these things for myself.
One: If I am hired to be an electrician for a show, it is not my job to move scenery, props, dress actors, or do someone's hair and makeup. I don't know many office workers or doctors who also clean the bathrooms, wash the windows, and vacuum the for the places that they work. The same thing goes in theater. If I am hired to do one job why should I be required to do two?
Agreed. You mentioned in a later post that you don't mind helping other people with their jobs - but it isn't your job to do them. That makes sense - I don't mind helping out with setting up a drum set once in a while after my work is done - but it isn't fair to be told that I have to do it every day - because it isn't my instrument, or my specialty.
Two: Only one person brought up the fact that until this past weekend in 121 years Local One has never struck. The actors and musicians have both struck on numerous occasions and Local One has stood with them regardless of their views of the matter. So can all the "union actors and musicians" just cut the crap. If you don't agree with the strike that's fine, just don't fuel the fire. The elected officials in your union have publicly stated that you support the strike, if you have a problem with it let them know. Who knows, enough people might contact them and that'll be enough for them to distance themselves from it. Which brings me to another great point.
I think everybody has a right to their opinions of the strike and shouldn't need to "cut the crap". I am pretty sure that isn't meant in a bitter way - it's your opinion. Thats fine. What is hard for me to understand is why the union is not currently going to the table when the League wants to sit down and talk. If they (IATSE) are waiting for the Producers to lose some money, it is going to take a while with their reserves - and (I mentioned this a while ago) - what is to stop the League from hiring non-union stagehands that are trained properly and how long will AEA and AFM support a long term strike. I know it takes a lot of work to make a show run smoothly - BUT I have worked with non-union stage hands who have done a kick ass job with their productions. I am not saying hire out "illegal immigrants" as I saw posted on another thread - but skilled professionals who already do this work for a living - and train them for the theater and show they are doing. (Sorry this one got a little off topic - but I still don't have a real answer for this.)
Three: If you are mad that you do not, allegedly, make as much as a Local One stagehand then tell your union! They negotiate your contract and set your minimums. It is their job to get your what it wants. If the AEA membership wants $6000 a week for an ensemble role, then AEA should be fighting for it until they get it. If the membership wants to be allowed to do non-legit shows so that you can pay your bills and feed your family, then they need to propose a rule change and lobby for it to be done.
Agreed - If the union is doing Collective Bargaining they should fight for what they want - but also be prepared that those wants may be rejected.
Four: Yes actors do move scenery and props from time to time. Do you know that they are required to be paid extra for any moves that they have to do? I bet most of you didn't know that or just didn't want to point it out because it hurts your argument.
When musicians need to be on stage or in costume - they also get paid extra. I think that is kind of silly myself, BUT lets be honest. We do a lot of hard work and bring skills into the production just like any other performer or crew member does. If the Producers want something extra - they should be expected to pay for it.
Five: Yes some musicians do play multiple instruments during a show. But, can anyone tell me how many violins play the tuba? Or how many percussionists are playing the bass clarinet? Does the harp player also play the trombone?
I think some of the League jobs can probably be combined in the same way the musicians are in a similar field. I think they should be paid for their "doubles" and the other jobs that they do - but I for one would not hire an extra musician for a show to play 32 bars on a bass clarinet. I would either cut it or find a reed player to double it.
Six: Let's talk about this dreaded flyman. A lot of people have mentioned that the flyman does nothing on shows that don't have different backdrops or a curtain. Well, that's not entirely true. While a show may not have "working" pieces that doesn't mean that things don't need to move during pre/postshow. Part of the flyman's job is to inspect the rigging and make sure nothing has changed and that everything in the air is still the way it should be. Anything can happen after you leave a place for a prolonged period of time. You need someone there to check and make sure no one has come in and moved any of the "non-working" pieces. Having an electric baton one foot off it's spike can ruin an entire effect which could be monumental to the production of the show. And also, what is this BS about electric winches flying pipes in? A lot of these theaters were built a long time ago before this technology was available. Theater owners don't want to spend money to upgrade the building unless they have to so I'm going to say that I doubt many theaters have this technology in it. And another thing, a lot of these shows are so tightly hung and so precise that anything nonworking is dead hanged from the grid. In the event that it's a dead hang, you could have 1000 flymen on the call, they still can't fly the pipe in.
OK - Lets say a show has no fly cues. How often does the person inspecting need to be in the theater, and do they get a comparable salary to someone running the cues all the time? If they need to be there for 30 minutes to inspect then leave and are getting the same pay - it needs to be cut back - OR they need to stay at the theater for the entire show nightly and be prepared to get up there and fix something that goes wrong on a moments notice. If that is the case - I don't see the problem.
Seven: Does anyone know when the first time a stagehand won a Tony Award? Or how about the last time? How about the first/last time any of them got an award of any kind? This is a thankless job. Rarely does anyone acknowledge the work done by stagehands. We put our lives and reputations on the line daily for you and in return many people working on a production, let alone seeing one, don't know our names and/or what we do. A little appreciation every once and awhile would be nice.
Appreciation would be nice but not to be expected. I have never gotten a keyboard award. Yes - there are some musical awards at the Tonys, but there are also technical awards.
Eight: A union is a collective bargaining unit. That means that one entity is bargaining on behalf of a larger number of people which in turns means that the employee gets a better working environment and has someone looking out for them. I have done a lot of non-union and union theater. I've had a higher hourly rate at a non-union theater than at a union theater in the same general area, but I was treated with a lot of disrespect and told that if I had a problem with the job that they could easily find some other person to do my job for me and that I'd be out of work. If this had happened to me on a union job, the union would have stepped in and protected my right to a safe and healthy working environment.
I addressed this up above.
Nine: Yes unions in the past have been violent when people have tried to cross picket lines and whatnot. We don't live in the 30's with the amazing frequency of camera phones around job sites and public faces it'd only be in your best instance to do nothing but walk away from it.
Eh.....if someone at a picket line assaults me I call the cops and hope they rot in jail - I don't care whether I crossed a line or not. - Jaded, I know - but if someone puts their hands on me I don't care what their cause is - so this is kind of a non-issue to me.
Ten: Stop speculating as to what is going on with the strike. You will know when the rest of the world knows. Whatever you say could be taken by the masses as fact and that is how rumors get started. The rumors being perpetuated will only hurt the process not help it.
Again- just our opinions.
Hope I don't seem out of place here, and would love to hear any other thoughts than what I just posted.
You learn to play the straight man, the lines become routine - never really saying what you mean - but i know the scene will change :)
