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Broadway Workers Strike For Fair Contract |
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After months of unsuccessful negotiations, the members of International Alliance of Threatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local One walked out Saturday, leaving most of Broadway’s stages dark.
In a statement, IATSE President Thomas Short says negotiations were going well when he joined Local One’s bargaining team in lengthy discussions with the employers on Wednesday and Thursday, but:
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 main issues in the contract talks are work rules and wages. About a quarter of the 2,200 members of Local One, who build scenery, maintain props and install and operate lighting and sound equipment, work in Broadway theatres. This is the second strike on Broadway is less than five years. Musicians walked out for four days in 2003.
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The strike by IATSE of Broadway playhouses as well as the strike by the Writers Guild against TV and movie producers is an indication of where workers in this country are today.
The bosses are not satisfied with outsourcing steel, auto and rubber jobs to Third World countries. Now they want to stifle labor activity in the entertainment and cultural business as well!
As working folks, we need to support the strikers along with the nurses on strike in Appalachia and elsewhere!