Live Nation Has A Labor Problem Brewing In Philly

The firing of four stagehands at the Theatre of Living Arts in Philly last week has kicked off a major labor headache for Live Nation as it negotiates a citywide contract with a stagehands union.

Last week, four stagehands were fired by Live Nation over allegations of drinking on the job. The stagehands and their representatives with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 8 said the firings were retaliation for an 18-3 vote in favor of unionizing TLA, the theater where the four stagehands worked, as part of a larger effort to unionize theaters and venues in Philly.

Live Nation has filed an objection to unionization with the National Labor Relations Board, and the local IATSE 8 has begun staging protests in front of TLA, bringing with them a giant inflatable rat that often appears during labor strife.

Both sides are currently trying to negotiate a settlement in the latest kerfuffle, and the Theatre of Living Arts isn’t the only venue IATSE is targeting. The union already has agreements to cover New Jersey’s Susquehanna Bank Center and Live Nation’s Tower Theatre, also in Pennsylvania, and IATSE Local 8 head Mike Barnes told Amplify that the union has more venues in its sights. The current battle over the four fired stagehands might be a preview of the larger fight that lies ahead.

Barnes said one of the fired stagehands denies ever taking a drink and was targeted because he was the spokesman for the TLA stagehands. Two other stagehands were charged with drinking on the job for taking a shot of whiskey given to them by the manager of G. Love and Special Sauce. A bottle of top-shelf whiskey was passed around to the stagehands for a job well done and the shots occurred after the men had clocked out.

“All of the drinking that occurred was limited to a single shot or a single beer, and we contend it was done under approval from management,” Barnes said. “The amount of alcohol consumed would not have met the threshold established within the policy to take this type of action. Not only did they take disciplinary action, they took the most severe action possible. That’s why we believe this isn’t about the alcohol policy, but instead it’s retribution for these individuals who decided to be represented by the union.”

A fourth worker, Ryan Aloisi, was fired for accepting a beer a tour manager gave him as a gesture of thanks. He said he now believes he and the other workers were set up — in January, all employees of the theater were asked to sign a drug and alcohol policy barring drinking on the job. Aloisi said he believes the document was part of a coordinated plan to punish employees who had agreed to unionize.

“Prior to the unionization, management was constantly throwing alcohol at us,” he said. “After all, it’s a bar inside of a rock venue. There’s drinking that goes on. We’d be loading out and the production manager would be giving us shots while we were still on the clock.”

That changed following the push to unionize. Shortly after the vote, the TLA closed down for a number of weeks for scheduled repairs and maintenance. When it reopened, Live Nation had brought in new managers for the facility — Laura Wilson and Tom Martin, formerly with World Café Live. About eight weeks later, four of the stagehands including Aloisi were called into Live Nation’s offices and fired for violating the drug and alcohol policy.

“I had been working a reggae show with Tribal Seeds. At the end of the show, the tour manager was walking out the door telling me how good of a job I had done and handed me a beer, of which I took a sip,” Aloisi said. “A few moments later, Tom (Martin) pulled me aside and said that he had to report me and three days later I was fired.”

Aloisi said he believed his firing was “a union-busting tactic to punish us while  Local 8 is in the process of signing a citywide contract that’s 90 percent done.” He’s still working as a stagehand for Local 8 and has taken union jobs at non-Live Nation venues. Aloisi is also an artist who works under the stage name DJ Ha.

“I’d be more than happy to go back to the TLA, but only as a performer,” he said.

“I want to walk into that venue and have them pay me to perform. Just go to the green room and get hammered, play a show and them flip them off. Walk into their office, give them the finger and tell them, ‘Give me my fucking check, you assholes.’”

Union boss Barnes said the public protest over the firing has yielded some results for the union.

“As a result of the protest, it initiated some dialogue between the attorneys at both organizations and we’re hoping that dialogue results in a more reasonable approach to resolving both sides’ issues,” he said. “If that does not resolve the issues in a fair way, then the union will take up protesting again, both on social media and at the work sites that Live Nation has in this area.”

Local 8 has filed a complaint about the firings with the NRLB, who will likely be asked to intervene if a settlement can’t be reached. It’s also rallying it’s workers around the country to support the men, now dubbed the TLA 4.

Source: Amp The Mag