Broadway Strike - Day two: Most of Broadway remains dark as Union continues indefinite strike.
Local One Pickets |
As the strike by Local One, Broadway's unionised stage hands enters its second day, there is no reason to assume that the industrial action will end soon.
The League held a press conference on 10 Nov 2007 about the industrial action, when asked at the conference "When wills Broadway return to normal business?� Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the League, responded "As we've never had a strike with Local One," St. Martin said, "we don't know the answer to that. I have to believe that there will be pressure from the men to come back to work. We are ready to negotiate. We're sending that message as loud and clear as we can send it."
However, the union tells a different story, with complaints of the League being both intransient and duplicitous.
According to Local One's parent union - International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees' (IATSE) - rules, a union official from ISTSE must attend at least one round of negotiations between the union and employers before strike action can take place.
It was for that reason Thomas C. Short, the head of IATSE, attended negotiations between the union and the League on Thu 8 Nov 2007. When leaving that meeting Short reported that negotiations were going well and that he was hopeful of a settlement.
However, according to Short, once he left the meeting the League had a change of heart. In a statement Short said, �I am dismayed that just hours after my departure the employers made a 180-degree turn and began bargaining in a regressive manner. This action demonstrates a clear lack of will on the employers� part to reach an agreement.�
The union has the full support of Actors� Equity Association and Local 802, the musicians� union, with members from both unions out on the streets offering solidarity to Local One picketers.
The Theatre League has amassed a $20 million dollar fund in event of a shut down. Local One in the meantime has its own fund, worth $4.1 million, which they accumulated because of earlier threats of a lockout by Producers.
At the moment neither side seem willing to budge, until that happens it is impossible to say how long this strike may last.
For more about the strike you can read:
Click here to find out which Broadway shows are playing, and which ones are not.
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