B-Way Strike

[punktech]

any one know about what's going on??? i've read a few articles but they were really vague and didn't explian the situation very well...

[Footer]

Originally Posted by punktech

any one know about what's going on??? i've read a few articles but they were really vague and didn't explian the situation very well...

Basically, there are contract negotiations going on. Local 1 just voted to take 1.5 (ish) million from the general fund and put it into their support fund for workers during a strike. This is essentially the union voting saying that "we will strike..." They have said that they will strike in December (bways biggest month) if a contract has not been reached by then.

http://www.lightnetwork.com//?msg=23192.1

[Van]

Wow, imagine Local #1 going on strike, and there's threat of a writers strike in Hollywood scheduled for around the same time. Americans might just have to pay attention to the news come December / February.

[icewolf08]

Actually Van, the way I see it, is that theatres like mine, the regional theatres will greatly benefit if broadway goes dark and hollywood has issues. If you can't go to NY to see a show, see it close to home, and still see a high quality performance.

Also, just to recap the story for any who haven't heard. The Broadway producers wanted to re-negotiate their contracts with Local 1 because they felt that they had to hire too many IA people for each show, and many of those people got paid to not do anything. In response the IA said if they want to reduce the number of contracted stage hands then they had to increase the pay for the stagehands by something like 40%. As neither side could come to an agreement we are now looking at a strike. If/when the strike happens it will cost the city of NY about $5 million/day due to lack of people coming to the city for the shows. There are also something like 5 shows that supposedly won't be affected as they are not run by the same producers association and therefore are not connected to the contract negotiation, but I am not sure what happens if Local 1 calls a general strike.

[avkid]

Originally Posted by icewolf08

the way I see it, is that theatres like mine, the regional theatres will greatly benefit if broadway goes dark and hollywood has issues. If you can't go to NY to see a show, see it close to home, and still see a high quality performance.

What dream world are you living in?
The largest entertainment union strike in NY lasted exactly 30 days and cost 3 million (in 1919 dollars) which is the equivalent about $38,900,400 today.
I doubt it will last long.

[avkid]

To add to everything else that has been said, AEA will most likely follow to some degree if a strike does occur.

[Van]

Originally Posted by avkid

To add to everything else that has been said, AEA will most likely follow to some degree if a strike does occur.

Ack! now go outside, turn around three times and spit. AEA going on strike, what are you trying to do ? give me a coronary ?

[avkid]

Originally Posted by Van

Ack! now go outside, turn around three times and spit. AEA going on strike, what are you trying to do ? give me a coronary ?

Not the whole Union silly.

[Van]

It was that mention of a general strike in the previous post. I got all caught up in the moment.

[avkid]

Oh yeah, the great AEA strike of 1919.