As you may have heard, the IATSE Local 1 went on strike this weekend. While this strike affects only Broadway and not the rock and other venues that I usually work at, it still has an impact on the industry as a whole. Many of the news articles I've read in the past day have focused on the fact that the stagehands have gone on strike during Broadway's busiest season. This is not a coincidence. Many of the articles feature quotes from children and tourists, trying to make it seem as if the evil IA has ruined their holiday season just because they're greedy. What I haven't seen much of is the fact that, while the producers have offered a 16% increase in pay, they want to cut 38% of the jobs. So yeah, you'll be making more money. If you still have a job. This press release has more info. And you should check out more about the IA Local 1, including this little nugget you won't see in the paper, here.

So tell me, my friends and neighbors, why is it that the price of a ticket for a show in PREVIEWS (Young Frankenstein) is over $120, but the stagehands are the greedy ones. Know how much of that goes to the stagehands? About 8% ($9.60, for those of you not so good at the math.) I'm sorry, I mean, I've seen how things work, I know that sometimes there are guys on a call who don't really do alot, but you can't tell me that you're losing money. Where's the disconnect here?

Now, most of the Local One stagehands I work with are hard working guys. They do their job, and most make enough to live comfortably. I can't say I know any who live on Central Park west, or ride a limo to work, or send their kids to Montessori schools. But I do know that they love and take pride in their work; that they know their craft better than anyone else; and that they, above all others, know that the show must go on. I mean, this is a union that has not walked out. Ever. As one IA brother I was working with yesterday put it, "I feel sorry for Ma and Pa Kettle, who've been saving up all year for a trip to New York." Nobody wants the theatres to be dark; but sometimes you need to make a stand for what's right.

This strike is indicative of one of the most basic problems in the USA today: the growing gap between the middle and upper class. As we move into an election year that will have an unbelievable impact on the next century, the outcome of this, along with the writers guild strike, will set the tone for labor relations for decades to come. So choose your side carefully: do you support the average American, or the elite minority?

"So ya thought ya might like to go to the show.
To feel the warm thrill of confusion, that space cadet glow.
I got me some bad news for you, Sunshine.
Pink isn't well, he stayed back at the hotel,
And he sent us along as a surrogate band.
We're gonna find out where you fans really stand."
- Pink Floyd, In The Flesh!, The Wall