The Stagehands Strike

[ukelelehip]

This in from SevenSisters:

Doom and Gloom Plays Out on Broadway

November 24, 2007 9:02 AM EST

NEW YORK - It's a worst-case scenario that became a reality. As the Broadway stagehands strike enters its third week Saturday, there doesn't seem to be any way out of the thorny, seemingly intractable dispute that has shut down more than two dozen plays and musicals since Nov. 10.

Losses because of canceled performances are in the millions and climbing each day - a disaster not only for producers and theater owners, but for everyone employed in the theater and for those whose businesses depend on curtains going up.

Both sides are hanging tough and have not talked for almost a week. The standoff has meant dark theaters during the Thanksgiving holiday, usually one of the year's best weeks for business.

Not this year. There was a weird disconnect in the Times Square area during the holiday. On Thanksgiving Eve, side streets were filled with lively, noisy crowds. They were in stark contrast to the silent pickets walking slowly in front of padlocked theaters that looked forlorn even with lighted marquees.

Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees says it's willing to meet again with the League of American Theatres and Producers. But the league says it won't go back to the bargaining table unless the union is ready to make a deal.

And none is in sight.

A settlement was believed in the works last Sunday after a marathon weekend of negotiating. But the talks ended abruptly when the producers informed union president James J. Claffey Jr. that what the local had offered was not enough.

The complicated contract dispute has focused on how many stagehands are required to open a Broadway show and keep it running. That means moving scenery, lights, sound systems and props into the theater; installing the set and making sure it works; and keeping everything functioning well for the life of the production.

The producers want a flexible number; the union more specificity, including ample compensation for any concessions made.

Claffey, a second-generation stagehand, is a quiet, unfailingly polite man, but with a fierce commitment to his union, which has never in its more than 100-year history struck Broadway. At a somber union news conference on the Sunday after the strike first started, he spoke of the need for respect.

"We want respect at the table," he said. "If there's no respect, they will not see Local 1 at the table. The lack of respect is something we are not going to deal with."

On the league side of the table sits Bernard Plum of Proskauer Rose, a high-powered law firm with long experience in labor battles. Plum is a tough negotiator, too, something younger, more militant members of the league want in their confrontation with the union.

The talks, from all reports, have been businesslike, with only an occasional flaring of tempers. Yet both sides seem more adept at preparing for a strike than in negotiating their way out of one.

The producers set up a $20 million strike emergency fund, taking a couple cents out of each ticket sold over the last several years to pay for it. The money would help struck shows struggling with the costs of a shutdown.

The union, too, has its own fund - benefits of more than $4.1 million for its members as well as another $1 million allotted for members of other unions affected by the walkout.

And if an agreement isn't reached before Christmas, both parties may end up using every penny.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

[ukelelehip]

Once more, with feeling: talks restart in Broadway strike

Last Updated: Sunday, November 25, 2007 | 10:09 AM ET
CBC News

Striking Broadway stagehands and theatre producers are headed for a negotiating encore on Sunday after talks broke down a week earlier.

Both sides confirmed late Saturday night that talks in New York would be rekindled between Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and the League of American Theatres and Producers.

This marks a second attempt at reconciliation since the stagehands walked out on Nov. 10. Talks ended last Sunday after a marathon weekend of bargaining when the producers walked out.

There had been hope of a breakthrough prior to the U.S. Thanksgiving week, considered the second most profitable period for Broadway after Christmas/New Year's.

The most contentious issue concerns the number of stagehands required to open a Broadway show and keep it running. That means everything from moving scenery to technical jobs. The union wants to maintain the number at four per show but the producers want more flexibility.

Meanwhile, the curtains rose for the musical Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas on Friday after a court order.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Helen Freedman made the ruling on Wednesday after the show's producers brought their case to court arguing they had a special agreement with the stagehands to keep the show going.

[ukelelehip]

Broadway Breakthrough: Strike May End Soon

Producers, Striking Stagehands Close To Reaching Agreement

NEW YORK (CBS) ¯ Striking stagehands say they are very close to a deal that would end the three week walk-out that has closed dozens of Broadway shows. At the time this article was written, talks were still taking place, but there were reports the Broadway strike could end before daybreak.

"Hopefully there will be a deal tonight," said Local One spokesman Bruce Cohen.

Cohen told CBS 2 HD give and take is happening on both sides of the bargaining table. The marathon session started Sunday morning after the last round of talks broke off a week ago.

"Our people have their spreadsheets open, calculators going and I would assume the other side is all on the hopes of trying to come to conclusion," added Cohen.

Progress has certainly been made, but no deal yet that will get strike flyers down off doors and curtains back up again.

About two dozens shows are shut down, among them 'Spring Awakening.' Tickets for that show were in the hands of Joe and Peggy Schierl visiting from Minneapolis.

"It would have been nice if we could have seen the show we came to see," the Schierls told CBS 2 HD.

They saw 'Xanadu' instead, one of the few Broadway shows that stayed on during the strike because of a different contract with stagehands.

"We never expected it to go this long," said Lisa Kimuyu.

Lisa and Johnson Kimuyu brought their kids to a Theater District restaurant struggling to stay open and not lay off workers. The restaurant owners plan to keep offering a 15 percent discount to boost business.

"[The discount] helped a little bit," said Brazil Brazil restaurant owner Antonia Velarde. "But it is not the same."

As long as negotiators for Producers and Stagehands keeping downing coffee and sticking with it, an imminent resolution is the great hope on the great white way.

By Dave Carlin, CBS 2 News

[ukelelehip]

Broadway talks resume after break
by Peggy McGlone/The Star-Ledger Monday November 26, 2007, 6:47 PM

Theater producers are meeting with striking stagehands again tonight to try to end the 17-day walk-out that has shuttered most of Broadway.

After bargaining for more than 20 hours from Sunday through this morning, the two sides broke for 12 hours and returned to the table at 7 p.m. The talks are ongoing at the Theater District offices of Proskauer Rose, attorneys for the producers.

The League of American Theatres and Producers, representing owners and producers in the negotiations, had no comment. But the league didn't cancel Tuesday night's performances -- as it had done in the past -- and the usually tight-lipped Bruce Cohen, spokesman for Local 1, offered a glimmer of hope.

"Progress was made," said Cohen this morning. "Each side is being very creative and imaginative as the search is made to find compromise."

The strike began Nov. 10, when members of Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees walked off the job and closed down 27 plays and musicals. Unions representing the actors, musicians and other backstage workers honored the stagehands' picket lines.

At issue are a series of rules governing how many stagehands are needed to open a show and keep it running. The league wants to relax current staffing requirements, allowing producers to pay fewer stagehands and thus cut their costs. Local 1 officials want to protect the jobs and safety of the 350 to 500 stagehands who work in Broadway theaters.

Working without a contract since the summer, the stagehands -- the people who move props and scenery and operate lighting, sound and special effects systems -- voted to strike after the producers began implementing the same new rules that the union was resisting at the bargaining table.

Before Sunday, the two sides met only twice since the strike began, on Nov. 17 and 18. The league left those talks and then canceled all performances through Thanksgiving week, one of the busiest of the year. Most theaters are closed on Mondays.

While most of Broadway is dark, seven shows remain open, thanks to separate contracts with the union. They include "Young Frankenstein" and "Mary Poppins," as well as several productions by nonprofit theaters. An eighth, "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!," reopened last Friday after a New York state Supreme Court justice intervened.

As the strike enters its third performance week, both sides are under pressure to reach an agreement. Producers are losing millions at the box office, while thousands of actors, ushers, box office personnel, costume staff and others have been without paychecks. The strike would have to last seven weeks before traditional unemployment benefits kick in.

Business at restaurants and shops in the Theater District has suffered as well. New York City officials estimate the cost of the strike to be $34 million.

[maxx02]

this is just terrific news! Now I'm wondering how it will affect the run of Rock 'n' Roll and if they will extend by 3 weeks. Personally, I would love that...

[barfleur]

I'm sorry to report this bad news -

G


www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aqMYmlSO3Jgs&refer=home

Broadway Strike Negotiations End Without Agreement (Update2)

By Philip Boroff

Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Broadway producers and stagehands have ended a second round of all-night talks without agreement on a 17- day strike that's cost the New York City economy an estimated $100 million in lost income.

``There is no deal,'' said Bruce Cohen, a spokesman for Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. ``No date is scheduled for more talks,'' he said in a telephone interview.

The two sides were meeting at the New York headquarters of Proskauer Rose LLP, the law firm that represents the League of American Theatres and Producers. Proskauer shares a Times Square tower with Morgan Stanley and is across from the Walter Kerr Theatre, home of the one-man show ``A Bronx Tale.'' It's one of 26 productions shuttered by the strike.

Stagehands walked off the job on Nov. 10, beginning Broadway's longest stoppage since the musicians' union struck for 25 days in 1975. That strike darkened just nine shows.

A standoff between the producers and union had kept such shows as ``Spring Awakening'' and ``The Little Mermaid'' closed through the typically sold-out Thanksgiving weekend.

``We hope to get a deal,'' Local One President James J. Claffey Jr. had told reporters upon entering the building earlier.

Claffey has publicly opposed changes in the contract that would reduce the number of jobs on Broadway, unless his members receive something equal in return. The producers' top goal has been to renegotiate what they say are arcane work rules and staffing requirements that force them to hire more men and for longer periods than they need.

The talks have attracted round-the-clock media attention. Reporters, cameramen and news vehicles have clogged West 48th Street outside Proskauer's headquarters. Inside a large contingent of producers, theater owners and stagehands gathered.

[ukelelehip]

*pouts*

[maxx02]

Hum, the New York Times is reporting that they are close and stopping because they need a break.

Negotiations are scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the dispute between Broadway theater owners and producers and striking stagehands after breaking off today when 13 hours of bargaining failed to produce deal.

But in a sign that this stoppage might have been more of a break than a breakdown, the League of American Theaters and Producers announced that it was canceling performances only through Wednesday's matinees. Two weekends ago, when the talks fell apart, the league canceled all of Thanksgiving week.

Two marathon negotiating sessions over the last two nights were considered promising signs that an end was in sight to the 18-day stagehands strike, which has darkened most of Broadway during a very important time of year for the theater business.

Negotiators had held a long negotiating session starting at midmorning Sunday, their first talks in a week. That session lasted nearly 20 hours, ending at daybreak. But people involved in the talks said that while progress was being made, it was slow and incremental.

The two sides have come to an agreement on the rules that apply to the load-in, the costly and often lengthy period when productions are moved into theaters. But they were still bargaining over the rules governing rehearsals and other kinds of work calls for productions that are up and running. Wage increases, usually one of the final issues in a labor negotiation, have yet to be seriously discussed, people involved in the talks said.

www.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/theater/27cnd-stage.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

[barfleur]

I hope the NYTimes piece is accurate! I was so hopeful when I went to bed last night, since we're going in a couple of weeks.
When I read the Bloomberg report this morning I was really bummed and the phone interview of Bruce Cohen sounded dismal.

Fingers crossed!

G

[barfleur]

Things seem to be changing by the minute. Now this from Bloomberg (update 5!)

G

Broadway Strike Negotiations Set to Resume Wednesday (Update5)

By Philip Boroff
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aqMYmlSO3Jgs&refer=home

Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Broadway's producers and striking stagehands will resume negotiations in New York tomorrow to try to end the longest strike on Broadway since 1975.

Negotiations were halted at 7:30 a.m. today after earlier signs of progress. The strike has darkened 26 of 35 shows.

``We haven't got a deal,'' said James J. Claffey Jr., president of Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, as he left the offices of Proskauer Rose LLP, the law firm that represents the League of American Theatres and Producers. ``We made some progress.''

Both sides left the negotiations without a date to resume talks. Just after 10 a.m., Charlotte St. Martin, the league's executive director, announced in a statement that talks would continue tomorrow at 10 a.m.

``Everyone is really tired,'' she said upon leaving Proskauer's theater-district offices.

Performances are canceled through Wednesday's matinees.

The bargaining session began last night and appeared to be heading toward a successful conclusion by the early morning hours. Addressing news media gathered outside Proskauer Rose at about 5 a.m., union spokesman Bruce Cohen said the talks were at the equivalent of the ninth inning of the final seventh game of a World Series in baseball.

``I guess you could call this a rain delay,'' Cohen said, declining to elaborate, after the talks ended without a deal.

[maxx02]

he he... looks like Roof's New York holiday might be nearly over. I hope he's enjoyed it because now it's back to 'nose to the grindstone'

[etherealtb]

Even if the truth lies somewhere between both stories, that shows *some* progress, doesn't it? (Trying to be hopefull here!)

[ukelelehip]

Hope for ending strike hovers over Broadway
Posted 28m ago

By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY

NEW YORK — The lights remain dark at most Broadway theaters, but there were glimmers of renewed optimism as negotiations between the League of American Theatres and Producers and stagehands union Local One resumed Wednesday morning.

Marathon negotiations adjourned Tuesday morning in what Local One spokesman Bruce Cohen stressed was not a breakdown but rather a "rain delay." Talks resumed Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Performances of the affected shows are canceled through Wednesday evening, according to a league statement, "regardless of the outcome of negotiations."

Wednesday morning, Cohen told reporters outside the negotiations, "The sun is shining. … We're in the ninth inning of the seventh game of the World Series."

There were reports in New York progress had been made on several fronts, but matters remained to be settled, particularly regarding stagehands' wages.

The theater community is predictably anxious.

"We're all awaiting the news that we can get back to work," says Chris Boneau, a spokesman for numerous Broadway productions, among them Disney's The Little Mermaid, which had to postpone its opening date of Dec. 6. "Then we can figure out how to get audience members who have missed shows to see them and plan for several openings we have planned for the coming weeks."

The league and the union, whose contract expired July 31, have been meeting and sparring for months. Before current negotiations, which began Sunday afternoon, they met for two full days the weekend before Thanksgiving.

They tried to negotiate on Nov. 7. Talks broke down the following day, and Thomas C. Short, president of the stagehands' parent union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, authorized the strike.

Work rules have been a key point, specifically how many stagehands are needed for certain tasks and for how long they're guaranteed work.

Concerning pay, the league estimated under Local One's old contract, a stagehand averaged, with benefits, more than $150,000 a year, including 28 hours a week for performances plus additional duties. Cohen told USA TODAY, 75% of stagehands working six days and eight performances a week had an average base salary of $67,500.

Despite pay increases proposed by the league, producers' new demands would create a 38% loss in jobs and wages, the union says.

The two sides also are at odds over the strike's economic impact. The league reported Broadway contributes $17 million overall to New York City per performance day; Cohen says city figures estimate a loss of $2 million.

Despite the level of discord, both sides face increasing pressure to settle, insiders say.

"The fact that (the union and league) don't like each other" is irrelevant at this point, says Adam Feldman, president of the New York Drama Critics Circle and theater critic for Time Out New York magazine. "The producers have a strong financial imperative. And if shows start closing, it will also hurt people on the sidelines — actors and dressers and stage managers and everyone who has been dutifully supporting the union. And that will hurt support for the union. No matter how rancorous things might be, both sides realize that grandstanding isn't helping."

Drama Desk president William Wolf says, "We all hope for a speedy end to the labor dispute. The longer it lasts, the more bitterness sets in, and the harder it becomes to get an agreement. The questions are: How long will the producers eat the losses they are suffering for and what they hope to achieve? And how long the stagehands and their supporters can hold out? And to what extent the city will bring pressure to bear on both sides?"

Still, Feldman says, "I think people are feeling optimistic right now. There were some encouraging rumors. The feeling is that they're going to come to a resolution soon."

[uncorked]

FINGERS CROSSED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ukelelehip]

Just came back from a screening of the film Juno. Jennifer Garner in the Q&A told us the strike is over! I've just checked google news and it doesn't seem up yet but Garner said "Cyrano" would be back tomorrow.

Fingers crossed she's got it right!