some one got it right about the producers

[localonedude]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 4:27pm

Broadway stagehands continue to carry fight for Local One on picket line yesterday.

The tiny union that has shut down Broadway was really ready to rumble.

Local One of the stagehands union quietly amassed a $5 million strike fund and is well-prepared for a long, drawn-out battle with theater owners and producers.

Local One is anything but a militant outfit. In its 121-year history, the union has always negotiated contracts without resorting to a strike in America's most famous theater district.

This time is different.

This time, James Claffey, Local One's burly young president, carefully prepared for a showdown. Claffey convinced his members the time had come for the union to stand up to the owners. He even convinced a reluctant Thomas Short, president of the local's parent union, that strong action was needed.

And this time, the Broadway owners and producers adopted a hard-line strategy against their workers. To begin with, they hired the Proskauer Rose law firm and its labor relations chairman, Bernard Plum, to fashion their strategy.

The city's organized labor movement hates Proskauer Rose.

This is the same firm that advised the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in labor negotiations that led to the disastrous transit workers strike two years ago.

Last month, the theater owners adopted the same aggressive stance with the stagehands. In the middle of contract negotiations, they unilaterally imposed new work rules on Local One's members.

That didn't intimidate Claffey. He knows Broadway is booming these days. Ticket prices of $100 and $200 a seat are almost routine and most theaters were playing to full houses. Even in these boom times, the owners demanded more cuts to their labor costs.

It's getting to the point in this country that anyone who works with his hands is expected to labor for peanuts and not aspire to a middle-class lifestyle.

The owners demanded a reduction in the minimum 22-person staffing level required for preparation of shows. Claffey was willing to agree to some reductions, but not a lot.

When management demanded more concessions, Claffey did the only thing a labor leader can do to demand respect for his members - he called a strike.

Only about 350 of Local One's 2,200 active members are involved in the work stoppage. That's not a big number, considering the union's coffers are bulging with cash.

This Friday, Local One will begin paying each striker about $400 a week in strike pay. It is even offering some money to the ushers and porters idled by the walkout.

At that rate, the union can afford to provide its members weekly checks well into next year.

The theater owners who followed Proskauer Rose's advice have lost more money than they would have saved if they got what they wanted.

Every day the strike continues, the owners, the workers and the city lose millions more, and our city loses a big part of what makes it unique during the holiday season.

Only Proskauer Rose and its $800-an-hour lawyers will make money from here on.

You'd think the owners, who are supposed to be good with numbers, would realize there comes a time when you cut your losses. Lawyers have been known to give a client bad advice. The MTA learned that one just before Christmas two years ago.






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[allofmylife]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 5:12pm

I just (as it turned out, unfairly) crapped all over someone who joined this board about ten days ago and posted something I thought was sort of anti-union - or at least more pro management.

In the spirit of fairness, I suppose I should ask if you, as this other chap was, are a member who has changed his name and avatar to be pro-union, or are you affiliated with Local One and jut joined today (and welcome either way, there's no wrong answer to this question...)

[Craig]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 5:23pm

Not going to discuss any other point other than it's not etirely accurate to say the most theaters were playing to full houses. The weekly grosses indicate otherwise.

[mightydog]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 5:28pm

Did you really need to start a new thread to rehash the same old BS? Has anyone considered that maybe in 121 years the previous negotiators were willing to cave in to extortionist demands and finally some people with cajones said enough is enough?

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 5:38pm

'extortionist demands'??

good Lord in Heaven

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 5:51pm

Do they want to give me any money as an out-of-work merch worker without a union? Just saying.

[roadmixer]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 6:00pm

Shesamarshmallow - no need for you to be without a union... The ushers, the stage door, the engineers, the porters, the actors, the musicians AND the stagehands all have representation. It is not fair that you guys are out in the cold. You might consider speaking with Local One. It is quite possible that you might get some help too...

[roadmixer]

Posted: 11/24/07 at 6:03pm

mightydog... Please understand that Local One did not enter these discussions asking for ANYTHING. The union has been on the defensive from day one trying to keep what we have now. I could understand what you are trying to say if it was a fact that the union was asking for more but that just isn't the case.