Protestors were set up outside Philips Arena in Atlanta with "Poor Performance" banners.
Though it was one of the coldest days ever recorded in Atlanta, with temperatures nearing zero degrees, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) union members were out in force on Thursday, Feb. 19, at entrances of Philips Arena in Atlanta, holding banners and handing out leaflets that read “poor performance.” The phrase wasn’t applying to the actual music being performed by Maroon 5 that night, but to the poor working conditions local stagehands say they endure to prepare for this show and others like it.
The use of #poorperformanceATL, helped the union track the kind of reaction their efforts created from concertgoers. “Preliminary evidence was there was a great deal of traffic generated,” said Dan DiTolla, IATSE Stagecraft co-department director, “which indicates that people were intrigued, they were interested and they went to our sites to look for more information.”
The protest was the first in a planned series of appearances at Live Nation and AEG events in Atlanta, two companies that use Crew One as their middleman to staff concerts. Crew One hires stagehands as independent contractors rather than employees, which means for these daily-hire workers who are employed sporadically throughout the year, they are provided with no statutory benefits. Crew One doesn’t contribute to their social security and the workers don’t get worker’s compensation, unemployment or Medicare, and are required to pay self-employment state taxes every year.
“And then there’s the question of the company’s hiring practices,” said DiTolla. “There are no real, clear guidelines determining who works and who doesn’t work. You might be a dedicated, long-term Crew One employee who just suddenly isn’t getting as much work as you’ve previously gotten. One of the reasons we think this happens is because Crew One likes to maintain a much larger employment pool than what is actually necessary to cover the work they have. As a consequence, they’re continually bringing in new, inexperienced people, which leads to another major complaint, which is that fact that this is often very unsafe work and the safety issues are exacerbated by throwing inexperienced people onto these job sites.”
In most major cities, Live Nation has existing union agreements for wages, benefits and payroll taxes for stagehands, the things these Atlanta workers are seeking.
“Live Nation and AEG, which are the two largest concert promoters and are both companies we have collective bargaining agreements with at literally dozens of other venues around the country,” said DiTolla. “So, we strongly believe that the Atlanta market can certainly sustain the same kinds of fair compensation and health and retirement benefits that both of these companies pay in similar markets all over the country.”
To start the process of unionization, IATSE worked with Crew One workers, collecting authorization cards from individuals, which affirmed their desire to be represented by the union. The National Labor Relations Board then conducted a hearing at which Crew One objected, saying their workers should not be eligible for the vote because they were independent contractors. The Board ruled against Crew One and allowed the election, but Crew One appealed before the ballots were counted. The Board rejected their appeal and, in August 2014, the votes were counted and the union won 116-66.
“Since that time, Crew One, notwithstanding the results of the election, has continued to refuse to bargain with the union and has failed to recognize the union as a legitimate representative of these workers,” said DiTolla. “So we have filed an unfair labor practice charge, the Labor Board upheld that charge and found Crew One to be guilty of violating the law by refusing to bargain with the union and now Crew One is appealing that decision in federal court. And that’s where we are now in terms of the litigation.”
Philips Arena declined to comment on the ongoing situation and Crew One couldn’t be reached for comment.
In terms of protests, IATSE plans to continue until resolution is reached, focusing for now on Philips Arena, with plans to expand to outdoor Live Nation amphitheaters once warmer weather months come around.
“We expect that we’re going to be out in full force,” said DiTolla, “bannering and leafleting whenever there is a Live Nation or AEG event in Atlanta, particularly the larger events at the arenas.”
Contacted for this story: Dan DiTolla, (202) 549-4921; Katie Root, (404) 878-3097