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| re: MET OPERA Union says opera season may not happen unless management reinstates workers and acts fairly | |
| Posted by: ryhog 02:00 pm EST 02/21/21 | |
| In reply to: re: MET OPERA Union says opera season may not happen unless management reinstates workers and acts fairly - Singapore/Fling 01:37 pm EST 02/21/21 | |
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| A bit of course correction is in order. Yes, there are throngs of underpaid and exploited people working in NY NFPs. Yes, there are executives in NY NFPs who are worth every penny they are being paid. The opposite is also true. But this thread is about stage hands at the Met Opera, who most would acknowledge are not underpaid in this fashion, and an executive at the Met Opera who many think is not worth what he is paid. | |
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| re: MET OPERA Union says opera season may not happen unless management reinstates workers and acts fairly | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 02:18 pm EST 02/21/21 | |
| In reply to: re: MET OPERA Union says opera season may not happen unless management reinstates workers and acts fairly - ryhog 02:00 pm EST 02/21/21 | |
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| This press release is sponsored by the stagehands, but my understanding is that these pay cuts are also being asked of musicians and performers, so it's beyond just IATSE. | |
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| re: MET OPERA Union says opera season may not happen unless management reinstates workers and acts fairly | |
| Posted by: ryhog 03:48 pm EST 02/21/21 | |
| In reply to: re: MET OPERA Union says opera season may not happen unless management reinstates workers and acts fairly - Singapore/Fling 02:18 pm EST 02/21/21 | |
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| That would make sense. Still, these are all union employees and not low paid exploited individuals. Individually or collectively they have the ability to shut the house down if they are so inclined. That's not the case for the essentially fungible people who regrettably have no right to be treated fairly in this context. | |
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| re: MET OPERA Union says opera season may not happen unless management reinstates workers and acts fairly | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 06:24 pm EST 02/21/21 | |
| In reply to: re: MET OPERA Union says opera season may not happen unless management reinstates workers and acts fairly - ryhog 03:48 pm EST 02/21/21 | |
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| Based on which union we're looking at, I think we can still be talking low paid, exploited individuals - that's certainly a large part of the messaging behind We See You White American Theater - we're just negotiating the degree to which one is being exploited and underpaid. As someone who is not part of any of these unions, I often find myself in a similar boat financially to colleagues who are in creative unions. The larger issue, of course, is one that is endemic to our version of Capitalism: it is mistaking the value of a company for the value of the person that runs that company. So we look at the budget of a theater, and some folks, rather than ask how that money is being spent to support the livelihood of thousands of people, instead ask how much of that money can go to a select few earners, and how little can be paid to the rest, in order to fund those select few earners, (who are also generally the ones who are making these decisions in the first place. And then, when things get tight, the folks who have been earning that money ask how those who are already suffering can suffer further, offering inspirational bromides of how we're all sacrificing for our art... but some folks are making that sacrifice in a rent-free Manhattan penthouse, and others are making that sacrifice by eating ramen in the outer boroughs. I appreciate how much Gelb works to keep The Met prosperous, but his job only exists because of everybody else who is working in that institution. We might say Gelb is underpaid, but everyone is underpaid; the question is how much more underpaid some folks are compared to others, and whether the performing arts can exist without that system. Some days most days, I think that boat has sailed. |
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| re: MET OPERA Union says opera season may not happen unless management reinstates workers and acts fairly | |
| Posted by: ryhog 10:46 pm EST 02/21/21 | |
| In reply to: re: MET OPERA Union says opera season may not happen unless management reinstates workers and acts fairly - Singapore/Fling 06:24 pm EST 02/21/21 | |
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| a lot there to unpack and this is not the right place for most of it. So I will just highlight one thing which is that I think the union issue in many of the troubling situations is in how the rewards of hard fought contracts are divvied up, and another is that in the theatre we have a lot of union members especially (but not only) in the creative segment who hideously exploit the people they have working for them. Much to ponder of course. |
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| re: MET OPERA Union says opera season may not happen unless management reinstates workers and acts fairly ALSO LETS LOOK AT THE OFFER | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 10:01 am EST 02/22/21 | |
| In reply to: re: MET OPERA Union says opera season may not happen unless management reinstates workers and acts fairly - ryhog 10:46 pm EST 02/21/21 | |
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| We have to understand what led to the lockout. The Met' s offer to their Stage Hands in December was this: We'll pay you $1500 a week during the pandemic lock down, if you will agree to a 30% wage reduction - only until Box Office returns to pre-pandemic levels. This does not seem that unfair, as the Met cuts would go pretty much across the board. The average stage hand costs the Met $270,000 a year in salary and benefits. Doesnt sound like an exploited worker to me. $200 million of the Met's $300 million budget goes to salaries & benefits. |
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| re: MET OPERA Union says opera season may not happen unless management reinstates workers and acts fairly ALSO LETS LOOK AT THE OFFER | |
| Posted by: ryhog 12:39 pm EST 02/22/21 | |
| In reply to: re: MET OPERA Union says opera season may not happen unless management reinstates workers and acts fairly ALSO LETS LOOK AT THE OFFER - NewtonUK 10:01 am EST 02/22/21 | |
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| I'll leave the Met vs. stage hands for others to duke out (as well as the sources of the current situations - musicians anyone?), but let's unpack that salary and benefits stat a little. What do we know about the Met? We know, for instance, that they do a great deal more in house than most everyone else. So a lot of things that would be vendor bills in a typical Broadway budget (even for most of the non-profits) are salaries and benefits at the Met. We know that they do not pay "rent" in the conventional sense. There are other elements but these two dramatically shift the balance. | |
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