get the mayor involved

[nycdncr]

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

i urge each of you to contact the mayor of new york city, urging him to step in and get these two sides negotiating again.

you can write, call, or email. each method of contact is listed below.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
PHONE 311 (or 212-NEW-YORK outside NYC)

FAX [phone]

E-MAIL:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html


when the mayor got involved and demanded the musicians and producers return to the bargaining table, an agreement was reached in 12 hours.

"The settlement was reached under extraordinary pressure from the producers, the city and the media. Estimates were released of losses to New York’s economy amounting to more than $2 million a day, with predictions that a lengthy strike could seriously affect tourism. New York’s billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg demanded that the two sides submit to round-the-clock bargaining Monday night, bringing in former New York City Schools Chancellor Frank Macchiarola as a mediator. Within 12 hours, a deal was announced." -http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/mar2003/bway-m13.shtml

"Bloomberg had forced the two sides to resume negotiations after they broke off talks last Friday."
-http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2003/03/10/broadway100303.html

he did it last time....he should be able to do it again! call, write, fax, or email to urge him to step in once again.

Updated On: 11/19/07 at 09:11 AM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 9:28am

Did you just post for the sake of posting?

Did you not see that Local One turned down the Mayor's request to help?

[nycdncr]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 9:36am

during the musician's strike, the mayor stepped in and DEMANDED both sides return to the table. demanding is a lot different than offering help to a union.

[leko2]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 10:09am

I demand that everyone on here gives me $5 right now!




I don't think that worked. I guess demanding something doesn't always mean that you get what you demanded.

[nycdncr]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 10:15am

ok, then sit around on here and b**ch about what's not happening instead of doing something remotely productive and ask the mayor to help.

when something is costing the city so much money especially around the holidays, i'm sure the mayor will be apt to step in and get involved. he stepped in after four days with the musician's strike in 2003, got the two sides in a room, and 12 hours later an agreement had been reached.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 11:09am

nycdncr, you are being ignorant. The mayor has ABSOLUTELY NO POWER over the Union or the League. He had power over the Transit strike because they were city employees (and the fact that it is illegal for state workers to strike). He has no power here. As for losses, the city is losing $2 million/day, and that does not include the income from Broadway itself. While the Producers have a $20 million warchest funded by ticketbuyers, I don't see that lasting too long...there are 27 dark shows right now, many of which are limited runs and will never profit, plus they still have fixed costs. This strike is in the hands of the Producers. They wanted it, they got it.

[nycdncr]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 11:46am

did i mention anything about the transit strike? no. if you read back to 2003, the mayor did in fact step in during the musician's strike and demand the two sides go back to negotiating. research it...you'll see i'm right.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Broadway_Musicians_Strike

there's another article in case you need more proof.

i don't appreciate being called ignorant, when i've got my facts straight.

i'm out. this message board is filled with nothing but complacent people who would rather sit around and b**ch and moan behind a computer screen than get off their butts and do something productive.

Updated On: 11/19/07 at 11:46 AM

[Fosse76]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 11:55am

"did i mention anything about the transit strike? no. if you read back to 2003, the mayor did in fact step in during the musician's strike and demand the two sides go back to negotiating. research it...you'll see i'm right."

Because both sides agreed to it. He didn't just force them to meet. There's a difference.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 3:19pm

Fosse76--nycdncr is FAR from ignorant. His work and his contributions to the community speak for themselves.

His suggestion about encouraging the mayor to step in is right on target. When two sides are intransigent in a strike, their intransigence is often just a highly effective negotiating tactic. Public opinion and highly visible diplomatic efforts on the part of politicians are often exactly what is needed for a breakthrough.

It's not that the mayor can legally compel the two sides to return to the table. It's that his actions can shame or inspire them.

[mastachen2]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 3:25pm

Well, we all know how wikipedia is the most accurate source in the world. But despite that, I do think petitioning the mayor to do something can only help and not hurt.

I read on playbill and cnn that the city loses close to $17 mil per day instead of the $2 mil that someone else said.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 3:37pm

"I read on playbill and cnn that the city loses close to $17 mil per day instead of the $2 mil that someone else said."

False. The city comptroller estimated $2 million per day in the short term, but the number would rise if the strike were to last more than a month. But even then it wouldn't approach anything near $17 million. That's just more propaganda.

"Fosse76--nycdncr is FAR from ignorant. His work and his contributions to the community speak for themselves.

His suggestion about encouraging the mayor to step in is right on target."

Also false. During the musician's strike the mayor negotiated a mediation between the two sides, which BOTH sides accepted but WERE NOT obligated to. The mayor has twice offered to help out in this situation and the Union has rejected his help, so there is nothing more that can be done. nycdncr is insistant that the mayor can just strongarm his way in and force them to talk, which I can assure you under the law he has absolutely no power.

[AngActing]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 3:49pm

I don't know what Bloomberg can do, but, if he can do "anything" to end this . . . I am all for it!

Sure, I understood (past tense)that people do need to stand up for their rights, for a reasonable amount of time [to prove a point] . . .but this is really making New York hurt and makes the theatre world seem ungrateful and selfish (as someone stated).

I get that jobs are being threatened (by limited staff at load-in, or what have you) -- but, I'd thank the Heavens, God, Allah, The Great Spirit in the Sky, Buddha to have a job at $25,000 a year --(which matches my secretarial job in finance now)-- on Broadway!!

Of course, I am pro-union as I want so much to be in AEA and will support Local 1. I just think both sides are being selfish and stubborn and not being grateful for the wonderful career they were allowed to have in theatre. Especially when so many of us would give our eye teeth and maybe even a limb to do it -- and sometimes do for little or no money; because we love it!

I am just so disappointed in both sides now. It's ridiculous that adults cannot come to a compromise fair for both sides.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 4:30pm

so there is nothing more that can be done.

Don't be silly. There is always something that can be done. Stop adding your own personal melodrama to a serious situation.

You're like the Republicans who said that Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton couldn't get Israel and the Arab countries to sit down and negotiate peace. But Jimmy Carter got Israel and Egypt to sign peace accords at Camp David, and Bill Clinton got Israel and Arafat to talk.

Leaders should lead. That's what getting the mayor involved would do. He cannot force the unions or the producers to do anything. But he can inspire.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 7:56pm

"Don't be silly. There is always something that can be done. Stop adding your own personal melodrama to a serious situation."

Let me rephrase that so your uneducated brain can comprehend: the mayor can plead, grovel, and bribe the two sides to meet. BUT HE CANNOT LEGALLY FORCE THEM TO MEET AND NEGOTIATE. HE CANNOT LEGALLY FORCE THE UNION TO ACCEPT THE LEAGUE'S OFFER. HE CANNOT FORCE THE LEAGUE TO ACCEPT THE UNION'S OFFER. He is powerless in that respect. He can beg until he's blue in the face, but it is clear the Union wants nothing to do with him. The implications by many people on this board are that the mayor needs to step in. He has. He's offered his help twice and was rejected twice. He can keep offering, but unless the Union agrees, he cannot force them to do anything.

Updated On: 11/19/07 at 07:56 PM

[Fosse76]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 7:59pm

"Sure, I understood (past tense)that people do need to stand up for their rights, for a reasonable amount of time [to prove a point] . . .but this is really making New York hurt and makes the theatre world seem ungrateful and selfish (as someone stated)."

You're right!
Civil Rights Leader: "We've been marching for equality for 50 years, but we still don't have it. I guess it's time to go to the back of the bus now, we've made our point."

You really are just ridiculous.

[lawyerman]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 8:24pm

im all for further talks, but that analogy is pretty funny. clinton got the israelis and arafat to talk.

look how well that worked out.

not everyone can get along by just talking things out. it doesnt always work that way.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 8:58pm

I totally agree with PalJoey's two intelligent and succinct posts. The Mayor should be brought in to inspire the two sides to at least start talking again. When the Mayor offered to help before that was when talks FIRST broke down. Things are different now, some 11 days later, with the League's closing all shows through November 25th. The entire theatre district is in a crisis mode and can ill afford to wait indefinitely for the two sides to come together again. The Mayor can make a difference!