Carnegie Hall Stagehand Moving Props Makes $530,044

[z06boy]

I hate unions for the most part.

[goof2]

Originally Posted by z06boy

I hate unions for the most part.

They had their place a hundred years ago and did a lot of good for workers in America. I think unions have become leeches who try to create discord between actual workers and management in order to justify the dues they take. Through their behavior they have done as much as anyone to drive American jobs overseas and drive American manufacturers in to the ground.

[z06boy]

Originally Posted by goof2

They had their place a hundred years ago and did a lot of good for workers in America. I think unions have become leeches who try to create discord between actual workers and management in order to justify the dues they take. Through their behavior they have done as much as anyone to drive American jobs overseas and drive American manufacturers in to the ground.

Agree 100% with all of that.

[Smittie61984]

Originally Posted by goof2

Pretty much. Let them strike, then hire some scabs. They can get rid of the high salaries and the union all at once. That assumes that the other unionized labor they need will not stop dealing with the theater (I'm thinking of teamsters in particular).

I'll do the job for $100k a year and scratch the pianist's balls everytime they itch during hte performance.

I'd just live somewhere away from the city like New Jersey, Connecticut, or in the NY suburbs and commute there like I do everyday now for my crappy job and pay.

fuck unions. I celebrate everytime a union stronghold fails in Atlanta. That POS GM plant they had in Doraville, GA is probably going to be the new Falcon's stadium built by Arthur Blank. It'll do 10x more good than that POS union petri dish ever did.

Edit: I'd like to add that as a private company that fucker's pay should be between him and the company (unions too if they are included).

[101lifts2]

Who cares what a private company pays its employees or contract workers.

I wouldn't go there because it isn't my type of music, but hey.

[unknownroad]

The wire services print any piece of crap that crosses their desks, don't they?

OMG, somebody in a union is making good money for a job that involves physical labor!

Originally Posted by pauldun170

Carnegie Hall Stagehand Moving Props Makes
Depending on wattage, a star pianist can receive $20,000 a night at the 118-year-old hall, meaning he or she would have to perform at least 27 times to match the income of Dennis O’Connell, who oversees props at the New York concert hall.

So he would have to work for five weeks to make as much as someone else makes in a year? And three nights to substantially exceed the median income in the US. Ok. Thanks for the trivia Guess i should've taken piano lessons as a kid.

How exactly do the stagehands earn their money? According to Carlino, they move equipment in and out of the hall, prepare the three stages for performances and operate audiovisual and sound fixtures. In addition to Stern Auditorium (2,804 seats), the company has Zankel Hall (599 seats) and Weill Recital Hall (268).

Who the fuck is Carlino?

An electrician handles objects that get plugged in, like microphones and amplifiers,

"Handles objects that get plugged in". Really? I'm sure the author would have no problem setting up and running the lighting at a major concert venue... after all, he knows how to plug in his iPod, right?

The hall’s operating budget has more than doubled since, to $84 million.

....

Carnegie Hall had an operating shortfall of $40.2 million in 2007-2008. After including funds from donors, investment income and government grants, the hall ended the season with a $1.9 million surplus.

So in other words, they should quit messing with the music shit and stick to panhandling and suckling off the public teat?

Stern Auditorium costs $15,600 to rent on a Friday or Saturday night. The producer must pay extra for stagehands, ushers, security, insurance and the sound system.

That's less than i would have expected. You can't even hire a good pianist for that. Hell, there are hotels in Manhattan that run 2 grand a night. If i had robber-baron money, i'd rent it for a night just to have sex on the stage

[askmrjesus]

Originally Posted by unknownroad

"Handles objects that get plugged in". Really? I'm sure the author would have no problem setting up and running the lighting at a major concert venue... after all, he knows how to plug in his iPod, right?

Stage hands run cable, push heavy shit, and load trucks. They will often "help" attach light bars to trusses, run follow spots, and help in the assembly of light rigs and stages/props. They have no idea how to set up, or run lighting and sound. That's what tour roadies do.

Tour roadies are almost always non-union.

A typical labor call will overstaffed by the union by 30-40% You call them and ask for 6 guys, because that's all you need. They say "No, you need at least ten". Out of the 10, you get two old guys nearing retirement. These two guys don't do shit, don't even ask. Four of the guys will be fat and slow, and two of them will be young and stupid. The remaining two of consist of the lead guy, (who doesn't do shit) and the one guy who actually works and knows what he's doing. Welcome to my (ex) world.

JC

[unknownroad]

Originally Posted by askmrjesus

Stage hands run cable, push heavy shit, and load trucks. They will often "help" attach light bars to trusses, run follow spots, and help in the assembly of light rigs and stages/props. They have no idea how to set up, or run lighting and sound. That's what tour roadies do.

That's why I'm saying that this article is a piece of shit. They're taking the salary of the Property Master and full time facility technicians, then describing the jobs of the stagehands they oversee, leading the reader to link the big money to the scut work. And among the random statistics with no particular relevance which are tossed in to fill out the article, it gives out the director's salary from 13 years ago, which, no surprise, is lower than what the technical heads are making today, as if that means anything.

I'm not quite foil-hat enough to say that there's a media conspiracy to badmouth unions, but I'm tired of seeing deliberately misleading articles like this (and as disclosure, I have never been a Union worker in any field).

[askmrjesus]

Originally Posted by unknownroad

That's why I'm saying that this article is a piece of shit. They're taking the salary of the Property Master and full time facility technicians, then describing the jobs of the stagehands they oversee, leading the reader to link the big money to the scut work. And among the random statistics with no particular relevance which are tossed in to fill out the article, it gives out the director's salary from 13 years ago, which, no surprise, is lower than what the technical heads are making today, as if that means anything.

I'm not quite foil-hat enough to say that there's a media conspiracy to badmouth unions, but I'm tired of seeing deliberately misleading articles like this (and as disclosure, I have never been a Union worker in any field).

OK, gotcha. Yeah, venues like Carnegie Hall are different from stadium venues, in that they have a full time sound and light systems as permanent fixtures, and the people who run that stuff do have more knowledge than your average road case pushers.

Still in all, I never met anyone in the rock business who was pulling down half a mil a year to run a light board. Rock and roll money was good, but it wasn't THAT fucking good.

I wouldn't begrudge them the money if they earned it, but in my seven or so years doing rock shows, 99% of the union guys I worked with were lazy to the point of being useless. They all acted like they were doing you a favor by showing up. There were many times I overheard the older guys telling the younger guys to "Slow down, you're making us look bad". These dudes were getting paid 80 bucks an hour to drive forklifts, but if the forks needed to be shifted (manually) they wouldn't get out of their drivers seats to do it, they had to call somebody. Shit like that drove me crazy.

JC

[neebelung]

Originally Posted by Sean

...which is equivalent to making about $73,000 in Cleveland.

True.