BY BRIAN TAYLOR AND AL DUNCAN
NEW YORK - Thirty-four stage workers, members of the newly
formed Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical
Stage Employees (IATSE) struck the Apollo Theater August 24
here in Harlem. Members of IATSE provide the sound, lighting,
props, and other related tasks that are necessary for the
various shows that take place at the theater. Workers are
demanding decent wages, health-care benefits, and a pension
plan.
Stage workers on the picket line commented that they joined the IATSE in order to have a stronger way to fight for their demands. "We haven't had a raise in 10 years," said Mike Jenkins, who is 35 and has worked at the Apollo for a decade. Bart Degong, 39, who has worked at the Apollo for two years, told the Militant that he wanted to be paid overtime after eight hours of work, which is currently not the case.
At the onset of the strike the predominantly Black workforce threw up pickets in front of the Apollo. The lines, which are set up 24 hours a day, drew support from several other IATSE locals in the city. At first, strikers said, the pickets tended to divide into groups of Black and white strikers. One striker explained that some of the Black workers decided to organize a barbecue for everyone, which helped break this down.
Unionists have received an extremely good response from the majority of the community, handing out hundreds of leaflets every day and convincing some to help with leafleting. Strikers have received material donations from local stores.
Not all passersby, however, support the strike. An occasional person raises that Rep. Charles Rangel, who is Black, is the CEO of the Apollo Theater Foundation, and that Black workers should support the Black boss, not strike the company alongside white union representatives. "But we are Black too," said one picket, pointing out that it is he, not Rangel who is struggling to live with no benefits.
Charles Richardson, an audio technician said that Rangel "speaks of a family environment between management and employees.... He says he's for the union. He says we should have had a union here a long time ago. But when it came time to talk about the contract proposal, he had no desire to talk about it." Another striker explained that most of those who are initially hostile to the strike quickly change their tune if they are willing to hear what the fight is about.
Strikers are asking that other unions and members of the Harlem community call Charles Rangel and demand that he urge the theater to settle with the strikers right away.
Al Duncan is a member of the United Transportation Union and the Socialist Workers candidate for governor of New York.