In my limited experiences in union houses, the stage hands are the only ones who can load a show in and out and get a minimum number of hours. So if it takes six stagehands one hour to load in a magic act, say, with a box and a rabbit and a curtain, they each get hundreds of dollars for six hours. Then once it's in, all the stuff needs tweaked by people directly involved with the show, who may or may not be union stagehands or union anything or members of different unions. So sometimes, they get overpaid. Since my shows were small, this is what I saw. On the other hand, if you are loading in some honking thing with roller skates and 'coptors, you probably want those people for safety reasons and they probably work twelve hour shifts to get stuff where it needs to be.

It would be nice for the producers to decide how many hands they need for how long for each job rather than having the whole thing dictated to them. I think.

Oh hello! Here I am! Sadly, I do not have time to explain it at this moment (out the door in 2 seconds), but I'll be back later to explain what I know.

I can see both sides of it. The producers would love to lower their costs, even with the theater industry enjoying booming times.

The union wants to protect what it has, even if there are people who do not get paid for work. But then again, we all get paid at times for no or little work. Then there are times when they can't pay us what we're worth. It balances out.

My sentiment is on the union side, although there may be room for some giveback, with the most egregious examples of "featherbedding."

The last time I heard this term was with the railroads. Even with diesel engines, there was still a requirement for a fireman, a vestige from back in the coal days.

Ok, I'm back. And I'll have you know I did some extra research just for my answer in this question- I have, of course, been following the story as it has played out in the news, on theatre message boards (and actor's MySpace pages!), and around the city. On my way to my meeting tonight, I called my theatre journalist friend Matt, and we had a chat about what we know and how we're feeling about the strike so far. And, naturally, that conversation left me more confused than ever. Every thing I read about the strike makes me more and more confused and tired. I don't know whose side I'm on; I suppose you could call me a work in progress.

rainbaby and danf both touch on some of the main issues that are being thrown back and forth- cutting costs (and jobs), not wanting to pay for workers when they "aren't working" (a phrase which the union would dispute, I'm sure). I honestly don't know who or what to believe- everything I read says something new, the back and forth on the theatres boards is heated, as you might imagine. The union says it "will not negotiate in the press" (and the little voice in the back of my head says, well, is that because you think you'll lose?) As of right now, both sides have walked away from the table, and there doesn't seem to be any movement right now toward going back. It seems that the union thinks the producers will give up the goat the closer we get to the holidays. Matt thinks it's pretty hopeless at this point- when it first started, I assumed (even said on Mecha) that it would end in less than a week, but it's not looking good. He thinks it'll be another baseball strike- looooooong.

Meanwhile, over 33,000 seats sit empty at every lost performance (assuming all struck shows playing simultaneously at full capacity). And very soon, shows will start to close- first, the plays that never really had a chance to open and develop buzz(August: Osage County, The Seafarer), next, the shows that were precarious but holding on (RENT, The Color Purple, The Drowsy Chaperone, Legally Blonde). Buckets of people out of jobs (unemployment hell, as opposed to strike limbo). Bye bye, Broadway. It breaks my heart in two.

Thank you TPS. I did not mean to make any extra work for you. But I appreciate it.

I was in a rigging seminar in Seattle last month, and there were some Lincoln Center and Broadway guys in it (I was about the only non-rigger).

I am wondering if they are represented by the Stagehands, or if they have their own union. (This is not a request for more research on your part.)

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