Thursday, March 07, 2013

Today in Labor History

March 07 --  SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc. 

Some 6,000 shoemakers, joined by about 20,000 other workers, strike in Lynn, Mass. They won raises, but not recognition of their union - 1860

Three thousand unemployed auto workers, led by the Communist Party of America, braved the cold in Dearborn, Mich., 2013.03.04history-ford-tear-gasto demand jobs and relief from Henry Ford. The marchers got too close to the gate and were gassed. After re-grouping, they were sprayed with water and shot at.  Four men died immediately; 60 were wounded - 1932

Steel Workers Organizing Committee—soon to become the United Steel Workers—signs its first-ever contract, with Carnegie-Illinois, for $5 a day in wages, benefits - 1937

IWW founder and labor organizer Lucy Parsons dies - 1942

Hollywood writers represented by the Writers Guild of America strike against 200 television and movie studios over residuals payments and creative rights. The successful strike lasted 150 days, one of the longest in industry history - 1988

Musicians strike Broadway musicals and shows go dark when actors and stagehands honor picket lines. The strike was resolved after four days - 2003

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Today in #LaborHistory : March 7 -- via -- www.unionist.com

Musicians strike Broadway musicals and shows go dark when actors and stagehands honor picket lines. The strike was resolved after four days - 2003 ~De

A bitter dispute has erupted between the musicians and the League of American Theatres and Producers over the issue of minimums—the size of the orchestras required for Broadway shows.
Musicians charge that the producers are engaged in a union-busting campaign aimed at squeezing out a greater profit margin by drastically reducing or even eliminating live music on Broadway and replacing it with digitally prerecorded or synthesized sound.

Union rules that have existed for over half a century establish minimum numbers of musicians that range from as low as three to nine for the smaller theaters up to 24 or 26 for the larger ones. The producers have demanded the scrapping of these standards, hypocritically claiming that they interfere with “artistic discretion” and amount to “featherbedding,” forcing them to hire more musicians than are needed.

In the final analysis, the conflict pits musicians fighting to save their jobs and defend the quality of their performances against producers seeking to deliver a greater payoff to themselves and their investors. To pursue its aims, management has brought in a law firm that is well known for organizing union-busting drives.

photo-Child actors and musicians from the play "Les Miserables" picket in front of the Imperial Theatre, Friday, March 07, 2003, in New York. Virtually every musical on Broadway shut down Friday as musicians went on strike, and actors and stagehands said they wouldn't cross their picket lines. (AP Photo / Louis Lanzano) Photo: LOUIS LANZANO
 

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