Union on Strike Against Owner of Arlington Theatre

http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/011310_arlington_theatre_strike/

By Giana Magnoli, Noozhawk Staff Writer

Stagehands plan to boycott all shows — which will go on as scheduled — because of a contract dispute

Members of a local stagehand union have gone on strike and say they will boycott all live shows at The Arlington Theatre because of failed contract negotiations with its owner, Metropolitan Theatre Corp.

There are about 60 employees in Local 442 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts.

The union has been negotiating with MTC, which also owns several movie theaters, since its contract expired in February 2009.

All shows and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival will go on as scheduled, MTC corporate representative Allen Gilbert said.

The Arlington has contracted with the union for decades, Gilbert said. The theater is the company’s only stage for live shows, thus the only one affected by the contract dispute. The company’s various movie theaters are unaffected.

A proposed contract included pay raises and a “new stage utility classification to enable a broad range of people to work live shows at The Arlington,” according to a company statement.

Negotiations involved international representatives for the union and a federal mediator. Terms were initially agreed upon, but then were voted down when the proposal went to Local 442, Gilbert said.

Eric Moore, vice president of the union chapter, said the classification change would threaten job security for employees. He said that some of the proposed clauses would allow the theater to hire nonunion help for a few dollars less than union members receive.

His fear, Moore said, is that the theater would hire a few experienced people but mostly cheaper, nonunion labor in the future. “To sign off on it means you’re OK with it, which we’re not,” he said.

Gilbert said the company “just wanted to have that flexibility,” adding that it has bargained in good faith and proposed a contract it believed was fair and reasonable. The latest proposal was presented earlier this month.

He said the company was unaware of what the union wanted — just that it was striking because of something in the contract.

“The members of Local 442 voted to reject our best and final proposal without notifying us what is unacceptable about the agreement,” a company statement said.

The Arlington will bring in nonunion help for its shows, and at least one union employee has agreed to continue working, Gilbert said.

Union members say they will picket all of The Arlington’s live shows — the first being Charlie Rose this Saturday — until a contract deal is reached.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival includes movies — which are unaffected — and live elements, which require the work of stagehands. The festival will be in early February, and members plan to strike then, too, if necessary.

Union members are hoping for solidarity from other local stagehands and from the community, asking residents to boycott live shows during the strike.

There are about 100 local stagehands on a “casual list” that often supplement union employees during periods of high demand, such as simultaneous shows in the Santa Barbara area.

Union member Tony Mitchell said stagehands are responsible for everything on stage, which requires a variety of skills — from being an electrician to a carpenter. In a concert, for example, members unload tractor-trailers of gear, hang lights, and put up the set, band gear and props.

Mitchell, who sometimes tours with bands, said many of the stagehands have other jobs.

The union has contracts with other theaters — including The Granada, the Lobero Theatre, the Santa Barbara Bowl and the Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center — but they’re undisputed and unaffected.

Mitchell, who’s been working in the union for 30 years, said that in these economic times, it means a lot that union members would rather strike than accept the contract as is.

“We don’t want to be on strike,” he said. “We want to work. We’re not paid to be on strike.”

There were no negotiations scheduled as of Wednesday, but both sides said they hope a fair compromise will be reached soon.

— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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