Esoteric -
I appreciate your response, and some valid points were made until you starting getting very negative towards unions and it seems that you yourself are uneducated as to what exactly local 829 is. Here are my responses to your bullet points to help
clear up some misconceptions:
2 - I assume you are speaking of
LORT theaters? Even then you can be non union and design in those houses. In fact the only place where it's required you have your USA card is broadway and broadway tours. Where I design in DC we have 5
LORT theaters, but the rest of the theaters can and do Union contracts. For those of us full time in this industry, it allots us the basic benefits anyone else gets for their full time job, and given that this is what I do for a living, and I do it well, people are willing to pay the little extra so I can have a regular life.
3 - The benefit is you get benefits. You get a pension, healthcare, welfare, and many others, maybe you didn't read the article where it lays out a pros and cons list.
4 - To say no one in live music cares if you are USA, some very famous Broadway Designers light live music concerts and tours. They are in fact USA. All it is is a different contract to sign
6 - I am sorry that you don't like unions, and I am really sorry you currently trust the federal government to regulate corporations and workers in an era where the Feds are so clearly bought. We work in an industry where we are frequently taken advantage of, and Unions help protect us, and not just us, anyone other brother with a card. Does it mean the union
system is perfect, by all means no, but I would much rather a brotherhood of my peers looking out for me than government officials being paid off by corporate america.
Further - to say union hands are bad is a gross over generalization. Sure your
call may have been mis handled, but did you take the chance that day to see where the good electricians may be? Maybe there was a bigger national tour in, maybe there was an event that required more skill, or was better paying than your gig would be. There is a hierarchy they follow. I'm sorry your hands weren't up to snuff, but in my professional life I have encountered just as many bad Union as Non Union, but when I speak of elite technicians, all the ones I know are union.
7 - You should look up states with right to work laws. Those states have lower median wages and higher rates of injuries on the job. That should further prove the
point in 6. Further, USA doesn't typically
strike except for in sympathy with
IATSE.
Other than that you make some good points - I don't understand why you need to be so negative and venomous towards unions in an article that was just meant to help people make up their minds about whether or not to join. Being a union designer is an honor. It is like being a guild, where you have put in your time, paid your dues, and proven your skills to be high enough to warrant inclusion into the group.