They are having a second informational picket this Friday, February 3, during CenterFest at the Washington Center. After more than a year of negotiations, the stage hands at the Washington Center are still far from an agreement on a labor contract between management and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local 15.

Frustrated by management's lack of progress during the negotiations, the stage hands are letting the public know why the venue, owned by the City of Olympia and partly funded with city tax money, is not an equitable place to work.

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Hello friends of the WCPA stage hands -

Last Saturday, we held an informational picket before the "Blues Night Out" concert at the Washington Center. It was nearly sold out and the overall response was pretty good. Some people thought they were crossing a picket line (they weren't), some had read the January 6 article in the Daily Olympian, some knew nothing about the contract, and some just ignored us. There were about 10 stagehands and five community friends walking with signs and handing out leaflets. The house opened about 15 minutes late because the front-of-house staff were made to stuff a rebuttal flyer in the program. And management took photographs of us talking with interested people - a Wal-Mart-style intimidation tactic!

Some stagehands have approached the City Council, who is now asking management the tough questions. We feel very grateful for their concern, especially since they don't usually get involved with labor negotiations - their relationship with their own city employee unions is very positive.

We're having a second informational picket this Friday, February 3, for CenterFest - the annual black-tie gala fundraiser, featuring The Pointer Sisters. It's important we have a larger turnout this time so that management and the Board of Directors see how our support is growing. We're hoping for 20-25 people this time - can you walk with us? Please RSVP by Thursday; if you can't come Friday, there will be future events where you can lend your support.

Thanks for your time, and hope to see you on Friday!

Katy Fogg
Washington Center stagehands
wcpastagehands@yahoo.com

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Seeking to improve their working conditions, the stage hands voted in August 2004 to establish a collective bargaining unit and have I.A.T.S.E., Local 15, as their representative. They unanimously rejected management's final contract proposal in October 2005. In December, a meeting with Federal mediators failed to bring the parties any closer on an agreement, and a second meeting was scheduled for January 12, 2006. On January 9, management postponed that meeting until after CenterFest, the Washington Center's annual black-tie gala fundraiser.

"That rescheduling is fairly revealing of management's intentions during this entire negotiating process," stage hand Nick Shellman told the Olympia City Council last week. While the city contracts with the Washington Center to manage the facility, the stage hands do not have the protections and job securities that are enjoyed by city employees under their union contracts. The Washington Center leases its building from the city for an annual fee of one dollar and received $238,000 in lodging tax money last year.

For the stage hands, several non-economic factors are at issue. Management's final proposal does not cover all the stage employees, nor does it cover events staffed at its Port of Olympia property. There is no equitable system of offering work to its employees, and very little advance notice of the work schedule.

"In an industry where work begins very early in the day or goes well into the night, and the work week may be anywhere from zero to seven days, the scheduling issue is critical," said Katy Fogg, another stage hand. "There is zero job security. For our lives and livelihood, we have to work at several theatres, so in order to be available for work we must have reasonable notice of the schedule."

In addition to improved scheduling, the union would like to see a small health care contribution and a pension contribution for all of the stage hands. Currently only two permanent stage employees receive benefits from the Washington Center.