Members DunedinDoug Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I offer, without comment, this piece from Bloomberg.com. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=agzioCanEd0s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BillESC Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 Having once been an I.A. stage hand, it's not surprising. Keep in mind the average show day for a stage hand is an eight hour load in, a four hour show call and a minimum four hour load out. It's really easy during a busy production week to be into overtime by Wednesday afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tele-vangelist Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 In my youngers days I had some IATSE experience, and yes, it's easy to start running into overtime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jerry007 Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 Wow. A half-million dollars a year is a lot of OT... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 The saddest part if that if they only made a LITTLE more money, they could afford a house there. Too bad.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jgthatsme Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I think the bigger issue here is how exempt organizations just piss away money. Sorry, but no stagehand on the planet is worth half a million a year. If you can get yourself wired in tight with an exempt organization, you can make some killer money as evidenced by this article and many others. Not to go off on too far of a tangent, but I'm not particularly crazy about our government's plan for universal healthcare. Where's the money really going to come from? Our pockets. I think they should levy a fee/tax on private insurance companies that parade around as "not for profit organizations." Not for profit my ass. When you're paying numerous individual people in your "not for profit organization" half a million to a few million a year, that someone doesn't fit the picture most people have of a not-for-profit. When it comes to Carnegie Hall, I'd be mighty pissed off if I was one of the philanthropists giving them money only to find they piss it away in this manner. If you're paying people that much in overtime, then you need to hire more people to pay for labor at the straight rate. Alternatively, you make the positions salaried so the cost of labor is fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Special J Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I've worked for the IATSE doing overhire calls and work closely with IATSE members on an almost daily basis. I don't know a single one that would work at a venue for salary. You've got to be kidding. It goes against everything the entertainment industry and unions in general stand for. JG, I'm guessing you've never worked as a stagehand, but it's a demanding job with often ridiculously long hours, with occasionally hazardous conditions. The props position is a position that is often given to somebody who has worked for the union for a long time and "paid their dues" both literally and figuratively in this case. The fact that this guy is holds the props position at one of the world's most prestigious venues, within one of the country's most prestigious unions tells me he's probably somebody of import within the industry. I bet he still works twice as hard as a lot of people that make 5 times as much down on Wall St. anyway. I think it's funny that YOU'VE decided how much this guy is worth. Not that I'm saying he's not overpaid, he might be. But Axis brings up a good point too. You have to take into account what it costs to live or do business in NYC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Real MC Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I could care less about the cost of doing business in NYC, I refuse to patronize that entitlement attitude. I'm referring to the whole organization not just the stagehands. If you can't afford the real estate then live somewhere more reasonable because the land grabbers have gotten too greedy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pro1-54 Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I was on tour with a band and had a few gigs in IATSE buildings. On one occasion, the venue had to bring in another FOH setup since we were non-IATSE and were not allowed to use their Midas.On another occasion, the violin player in the band was having feedback issues because her monitor was not angled correctly. I proceeded to the stage to move the monitor to the correct position and received the biggest tongue-lashing from a stagehand I've ever encountered.I have great respect and consider many IATSE members mentors in my craft. For the stagehands that demand 'job security' - I have no use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members W. M. Hellinger Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 The saddest part if that if they only made a LITTLE more money, they could afford a house there. Too bad.... A number of years ago I was driving from AK (Alaska) to the continental US. I stopped to gas up at a filling station in northern Canada. The twenty something yo. attendent was fiddling with his showroom quality early 70's SS454 Chevelle... which was up on one of the station's hoists. His early 70's showroom quality SS454 El Cameno was parked to the side of the filling station (in the shade). I was driving my beat-up Chevy van. Gas at that filling station was something like a buck-something a liter (well over $4/gallon)... which seemed to be the going rate in the area... a few miles from a pipeline. While I was gassing up, I struck up a little small talk with the attendent... the small talk was centered around the seemingly *high price of fuel* in that area, and the seeming discrepency with *that* combined with the attendent's apparent daily drivers (like how in the hell can you drive a 4 or 5mpg vehicle at $4+/gal fuel???). He suggested the cost of fuel there was basically chump change... he makes like $27.50/hr. with full bennies... so a $100+++ fillup equates to a 1/2 a day's work. eh? A few years ago, I was walking the sidewalk on Wikikki and sat down at a table for a minute... a perky gal asked me if I'd like something from the bar... I said: "Sure, I'll have a beer... what's on tap?" She ticked off the list... I picked MGD. In a few minutes she served up like an 8oz. glass of MGD (or something)... and said: "That will be $12... will there be anything else?" I coughed up the $12 and drank my beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sharnrock Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 A number of years ago I was driving from AK (Alaska) to the continental US. I stopped to gas up at a filling station in northern Canada. The twenty something yo. attendent was fiddling with his showroom quality early 70's SS454 Chevelle... which was up on one of the station's hoists. His early 70's showroom quality SS454 El Cameno was parked to the side of the filling station (in the shade). I was driving my beat-up Chevy van. Gas at that filling station was something like a buck-something a liter (well over $4/gallon)... which seemed to be the going rate in the area... a few miles from a pipeline. While I was gassing up, I struck up a little small talk with the attendent... the small talk was centered around the seemingly *high price of fuel* in that area, and the seeming discrepency with *that* combined with the attendent's apparent daily drivers (like how in the hell can you drive a 4 or 5mpg vehicle at $4+/gal fuel???). He suggested the cost of fuel there was basically chump change... he makes like $27.50/hr. with full bennies... so a $100+++ fillup equates to a 1/2 a day's work. eh? A few years ago, I was walking the sidewalk on Wikikki and sat down at a table for a minute... a perky gal asked me if I'd like something from the bar... I said: "Sure, I'll have a beer... what's on tap?" She ticked off the list... I picked MGD. In a few minutes she served up like an 8oz. glass of MGD (or something)... and said: "That will be $12... will there be anything else?" I coughed up the $12 and drank my beer. what's the name of that town? and did you notice any rooms for rent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members W. M. Hellinger Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 what's the name of that town? and did you notice any rooms for rent? AIR (as I recall) the referenced Canadian fill-up was near Dawson Creek, BC. And no, I didn't notice any rooms for rent... but then I wasn't looking. I did notice a medium cheeze pizza (read that: small... like 10" with a 2" nothing on it crust boarder) just down the road was like $35 (USD). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Unalaska Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 In dutch harbor AK the only fast food is a burger king inside a safeway or IGA or something. 10 years ago it was 9 bucks for a whopper meal. It's all about availability too, back in the early 90's the Navy (IIRC) asked the people on base at ADAK (way out on the island chain) what they most wanted: McDonald's hamburgers. They could not find a way to cost effectively bring them out premade so they taught the navy wives how to make them and brought ingredients out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members W. M. Hellinger Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 In dutch harbor AK the only fast food is a burger king inside a safeway or IGA or something. 10 years ago it was 9 bucks for a whopper meal. It's all about availability too, back in the early 90's the Navy (IIRC) asked the people on base at ADAK (way out on the island chain) what they most wanted: McDonald's hamburgers. They could not find a way to cost effectively bring them out premade so they taught the navy wives how to make them and brought ingredients out. When home on "leave"... after living and working on the AK coast for a few years, Liz and I had a hankering for some decent seafood during our leave in the lower 48... so we drove to the OR coast during Thanksgiving (basically to have dinner)... drove up and down US #1 dining along the way... meal after meal... outrageous bucks and basically lousy meals (frozen halibut is entirely different from fresh halibut). On the way home we stopped off at a Skippers in Portland (a hundred miles or so inland) and had one of the best seafood dinners of the trip... which also happened to be by-far the cheapest meal of the trip. The seafood dinner we had at Skippers in The Tri Cities (a couple hundred miles inland) was arguably better... but a few percents higher priced than the dinner we had at Skippers in Portland. Next time we have a hankering for some decent seafood... I'm thinking Wyoming or Kansas would be the place to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BillESC Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 When my brother worked for Mobile Oil in Japan, his 3 bedroom apartment in downtown Tokyo cost the company $ 12,500.00 a month and that was in 1980. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Special J Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 I've run into my share of self-important, lazy IATSE stagehands too, but unless they're the BA's brother in law they don't usually get the top gigs. I once had to tech a monitor rig for Bobby McFerrin at a union house while sitting in the house. Union rules stated I couldn't work on stage, but of course there was nobody in-house that was capable of setting up and ringing out the system without my guidance from the first row. Yep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NUSound Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 Keep in mind that the cost of living in Manhattan is probably double that of most big cities and probably three times higher than where most of us live. If this guy worked in Chicago he'd probably be making around $250,000. A good chunk of change, but as the article said he is the sole full-time prop employee and that he is probably very difficult to replace. Plus, he's probably working no less than sixty hours a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IsildursBane Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 When home on "leave"... after living and working on the AK coast for a few years, Liz and I had a hankering for some decent seafood during our leave in the lower 48... so we drove to the OR coast during Thanksgiving (basically to have dinner)... drove up and down US #1 dining along the way... meal after meal... outrageous bucks and basically lousy meals (frozen halibut is entirely different from fresh halibut). On the way home we stopped off at a Skippers in Portland (a hundred miles or so inland) and had one of the best seafood dinners of the trip... which also happened to be by-far the cheapest meal of the trip. The seafood dinner we had at Skippers in The Tri Cities (a couple hundred miles inland) was arguably better... but a few percents higher priced than the dinner we had at Skippers in Portland. Next time we have a hankering for some decent seafood... I'm thinking Wyoming or Kansas would be the place to go. Yeah, the whole "amazing road-side hole-in-the-wall" is as much myth as anything else. That said, if you ever make your way out to New England, good seafood is everywhere out here (except the grocery stores), but not much cheaper than anywhere else. Damn, now I really want seafood casserole... -Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 I generally prefer working IA houses, as our company is "union friendly". I have found the help to be higher quality and more efficient getting us in and out easily. This may not be universally true, but in general it's what I have experienced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Unalaska Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 The union houses here in seattle are all pretty cool, I've had great experiences with them. Mark, eating seafood in a landlocked state is kinda wierd. Kansas had crap for seafood (central area anyway), GREAT BBQ all over the state and beef in general. So-so chinese-american and NO Pho houses, Thia, Korean, Veitnamese etc etc. Lots of land whales eating Hardies/Sonic/McDonalds. Weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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