Sunday, October 19, 2008
Local Union Pickets Extreme Sports Event
San Francisco - The Snitch: "When the SUV began nosing its way through the picket crowd, IATSE Local 16 -- the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees -- responded with shouts, and one man slapped the vehicle's hood with his picket sign. It was at this time that a police officer pulled up and began assessing the situation. Eventually, the car was allowed to pass."
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8 comments:
It sounds like local 16 is being a little unreasonable in this case. They are correct that an IATSE crew will have more experience doing production work, because that is what they do. Building ramps and jumps isn't what IATSE does, and they should be content to not have the liability of doing something outside of their comfort zone. This is a case of leave it to the professionals, and both parties are professionals is some aspect.
I'm not so sure local 16 is justified in their claims in this case. If they've got people from Holland putting together a ramp from Holland, I'm willing to bet they're a little more experienced in that area.
I'm not sure what the guy from Holland meant when he said, "In Europe, when we work, we work," and was confused by the strike. Europeans are famous for their frequent labor strikes. Anyways, I'm not sure that I agree with the above posters that IATSE is overreacting. In the Dutch ramp case, yes, but the event has hired IATSE for the past 3 years. I'd say that gives them reasonable experience in ramp building. Furthermore, they're probably a better bet than amateur volunteers building the ramps.
As far as I'm concerned, its the show's prerogative not to hire union workers. And if Local 16 doesn't agree then its their prerogative to protest but what disturbed me about this article and what I think gives unions a bad image is the harassment of passerby that is noted in the opening line.
It sounds to me that they author might be a little confused. I doubt that they Local was disgruntled about being able to erect the skate ramps. I've never heard of an IATSE crew being carpenters for that sort of thing -- I assume those who designed the ramps and those who use the ramps would be the best to install such a piece of equipment. I'm sure the Union would agree. What I think was in questions was the non-union labor that was setting up the AV gear and the stages that usually accompany events like this (they referenced a stage). In that case, the IATSE folks have every right to protest. The venue, which more than likely hires union workers for the majority of the other events that occur there, shouldn't be switching labor forces.
I agree with most of what has been said that IATSE Local 16 was a little overzealous in their picketing. To put it in theatrical terms it seems almost like asking a sound designer to do a light plot. They could probably do it but not as well as lets say, a lighting designer should. While IATSE is certainly skilled, there is something to be said for trained and highly skilled labor in ramp assembly. Especially where safety is concerned. I understand the union's frustration but I believe they need to look at the big picture here, that the people who are most qualified to assemble the ramps are assembling the ramps.
It strikes me that the producers should be free to choose their labor pool. If they have a buisness model or relationship with their audience that lets them recruit volunteer labor and cut costs, that seems like a positive thing. Yes, they have to take on more responsibility for the work they do, but that's a choice they take on. While the choice may or may not be 'right' it definitely doesn't seem unfair as the protesters were saying. it's entirely possible that the show is being poorly, even unfairly, managed, but the union isn't making it very clear how/why.
Union workers have skills that others don't? That's a load of crap. Most of the guys on the strikes I worked have no skills, let alone secret union vert ramp construction skills. When you fly people, you higher a flying company, when you build near perfect ramps you Don't hire lumber butchers. IA is just be ridiculous.
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