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Friday, December 11, 2020
The Coalition Of Broadway Unions & Guilds Stands United With IATSE Local One In Met Opera Lockout
www.broadwayworld.com: In response to the lockout by the Metropolitan Opera against Local One stagehands, members of the Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds (COBUG) issued the following statement
While I think the Metropolitan Opera is in a tricky situation just like every other theatre and opera company, I am completely behind the Unions working together to stop this from happening. The Met is doing its best to stay above water I checked out the financial statements for the Met on their website to see how well they are doing and they seem to be doing moderately well. In 2018 they ended the year at $191 million; in 2019 they ended the year at only $143 million, so they did well but still lost almost $50 million over 2019. With the pandemic shutting down all sources of income over the last 9 months for the Met, it's obvious they need to find ways of saving money or reducing expenses.
If they were trying find ways of saving or reducing expenses in good faith then they should have included the unions in the discussion. That way even if they ended up in the same place they would have at least done so with the union on their side instead of creating a widening gap.
The Met Opera is being incredibly obstinate and unfair right now. While I understand that every live event organization is hurting right now due to the pandemic, going for workers’ wages is not the solution. Workers are hurting just as much right now, and they have no stability for the foreseeable future so to pass the buck on to them is as the letter puts it draconian. I am so appreciative that all of the unions are standing with IATSE. Hopefully, they can all lock out Met Opera just as they have locked out Local One until the Met backs down from their unfair proposal. It would be even better if our government could actually pass some relief so that the events industry wasn’t put in this place where workers and organizations had to be fighting each other for the scraps just so they could get by that would be ideal.
This is a fantastic example of why we need these unions now more than ever. Yes, everyone at all levels in these organizations is struggling, and many companies are barely staying afloat. But the fact that the actions taken by the MET in response to the shutdown "would last well past the COVID-19 pandemic and the return of live performances" is sickening to think about. At that point, it just feels that they are using this situation as a bargaining chip. IATSE wages can get expensive (as we saw in Sean's class on IATSE Management), but the MET has operating budget of $300 million and an endowment of nearly that much so its not like there isn't money to go around. Something this pandemic has shed light on over these past few months is the stark inequalities faced at many levels of the industry, and this is clearly one of them. I am glad to see these other unions come together in solidarity, since the movement only grows stronger with numbers. Hopefully this gets resolved and the local one members get their fair shake.
3 comments:
While I think the Metropolitan Opera is in a tricky situation just like every other theatre and opera company, I am completely behind the Unions working together to stop this from happening. The Met is doing its best to stay above water I checked out the financial statements for the Met on their website to see how well they are doing and they seem to be doing moderately well. In 2018 they ended the year at $191 million; in 2019 they ended the year at only $143 million, so they did well but still lost almost $50 million over 2019. With the pandemic shutting down all sources of income over the last 9 months for the Met, it's obvious they need to find ways of saving money or reducing expenses.
If they were trying find ways of saving or reducing expenses in good faith then they should have included the unions in the discussion. That way even if they ended up in the same place they would have at least done so with the union on their side instead of creating a widening gap.
The Met Opera is being incredibly obstinate and unfair right now. While I understand that every live event organization is hurting right now due to the pandemic, going for workers’ wages is not the solution. Workers are hurting just as much right now, and they have no stability for the foreseeable future so to pass the buck on to them is as the letter puts it draconian. I am so appreciative that all of the unions are standing with IATSE. Hopefully, they can all lock out Met Opera just as they have locked out Local One until the Met backs down from their unfair proposal. It would be even better if our government could actually pass some relief so that the events industry wasn’t put in this place where workers and organizations had to be fighting each other for the scraps just so they could get by that would be ideal.
This is a fantastic example of why we need these unions now more than ever. Yes, everyone at all levels in these organizations is struggling, and many companies are barely staying afloat. But the fact that the actions taken by the MET in response to the shutdown "would last well past the COVID-19 pandemic and the return of live performances" is sickening to think about. At that point, it just feels that they are using this situation as a bargaining chip. IATSE wages can get expensive (as we saw in Sean's class on IATSE Management), but the MET has operating budget of $300 million and an endowment of nearly that much so its not like there isn't money to go around. Something this pandemic has shed light on over these past few months is the stark inequalities faced at many levels of the industry, and this is clearly one of them. I am glad to see these other unions come together in solidarity, since the movement only grows stronger with numbers. Hopefully this gets resolved and the local one members get their fair shake.
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