Stagehands Blame Strike on Theater Management

Stagehands Blame Strike on Theater Management
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By JOHN HOLUSHA
Published: November 11, 2007
Striking Broadway stagehands accused theater owners and producers this afternoon of provoking the walkout that shut down 27 productions in order to unilaterally impose new work rules that would lead to unsafe conditions in theaters.

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Go to City Room » Saying that the owners and producers were insulting workers by exaggerating their incomes and using terms like “featherbedding” in describing staffing levels, James J. Claffey Jr., the president of Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, said no new talks would be scheduled until managers treat workers with respect.

His statement appeared to represent a hardening of attitude on the part of the union, which had never before struck in its 121-year history. He said that if the management proposals that were on the table when the talks broke off are still there at the next negotiation meeting, “we won’t go back.”

“We are being attacked,” Mr. Claffey said at a news conference of the management proposals. “We worked for months to make a deal,” he said “We truly regret that there is no show.”

The leaders of the musicians and actors union said they stood behind the stagehands against what Mr. Claffey said was an effort to reduce the middle-class status of theatrical workers.

He said the increasingly elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway had added to the burden of stagehands because they used larger, heavier scenery and equipment. The manning levels in previous agreements, which have been criticized as excessive, “is for our protection.”

“If there is a four-person piece that needs to be moved, they want you to do it with three,” Mr. Claffey said of the producers and theater owners.

He said that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg had been in touch with union officials to offer his help with the negotiations, but that they had “respectfully declined” his offer. Mr. Claffey said the impasse appeared to have been generated by a group of theater owners and producers who want to restructure the economics of Broadway in one negotiation.

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