The average stagehand in many New York City venues makes a six figure salary. See: stagehand salaries. No wonder tickets to plays and concerts there (and elsewhere) are costing many hundreds of dollars these days.
There is something fundementally wrong when unions can muscle their way into such egregious econimic inbalances. And many among us just shrug our shoulders and say that "if they can get it, they deserve it." Poppycock! I think that such golden eggs are in the process of killing the geese that laid them. I know I refuse to pay such outlandish prices to see the mediocre stage productions they are putting on these days. And, by the way, the same goes for most sports programs too ... that also cost hundreds of dollars to sit in the nose-bleed section watching some multi-millionaire athlete prance around like a spoiled teenager.
Eventually, John Q. Public is going to have the scales fall from his eyes ... and these houses of cards will collapse on themselves. Then is when I'll start cheering.
Let's put a stop to the sweat shop. Did you know that most show techs only get paid while the show is on-stage. I don't mean for the run of the show, but for the hours it is on during the day and for a 1/2 hour before and a 1/2 hour later. They are there often 12 hours a day. Most shows don't have that long a run. How much do you think your auto mechanic makes or your plumber or that driver who brings your stoggies from Cuba? How much did you make? Were you worth it?
ReplyDeleteA union worker
Let's see Mr. Union Worker, if the tech in the article referenced only works 290 hours a year (about 6 hours a week), he/she earns $1,000 per hour. Even BMW mechanics don't earn that much. (I now make $29 per hour and I'm more than worth it.)
ReplyDeleteUnions have obviously been a force for good in the past. But life is full of yin and yang and, I'm afraid, that many unions have turned a silk purse into a sow's ear. Case in point: the sanitation workers in New York City went on a slow-down strike during the recent snow storm to protest cutbacks. This cost at least two people their lives. The union thugs that called for this slow down shold be throttled ... as should Mayor Bloomberg for not being able to control things better.
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