Local One Boycotts Joe Allen

The most traffic I've gotten on my blog was the post I wrote about Joe Allen and his disgraceful remarks about Local One members during the Broadway Stagehands strike. Some of the comments I received ranged from support of our union to upset Joe Allen employees ridiculing me for my stance.

Apparently, Joe Allen had written a letter of apology to Local One claiming he was taken out of context. I thought to myself, "How can some of those comments be taken out of context? They stand on their own without explanation."

Well I guess his letter didn't do much because this notice went out to all Local One members:

In the November 17, 2007 edition of the New York Times, Mr. Joe Allen is quoted as saying, “I saw them picketing the other day on 44th Street and thought to myself, 'That’s the hardest they’ve worked in years.'"

Mr. Joe Allen said that about YOU. The account Local One had for many years with Joe Allen was immediately terminated.

We are asking that all Local One members, their family members, friends and all other Union members BOYCOTT the Joe Allen Restaurant located at 326 West 46th Street.

His other restaurants include Orso, 322 West 46th Street and Bar Centrale, located above Orso. Also, Joe Allen Restaurants are located in Miami, London and Paris.

BOYCOTT ALL JOE ALLEN RESTAURANTS

His degrading and disrespectful remarks about YOU should not go without retribution. Please do not spend your hard earned money in any of his businesses.

After receiving the comments previously mentioned, I thought I might have overreacted. Now I know I was right. Why would Joe Allen apologize if he claims he was misquoted and taken out of context? Answer: Because he wasn't misquoted.

Broadway Strike Over

NEW YORK TIMES: The league representing Broadway’s theater owners and producers and the union representing its stagehands announced a settlement last night, bringing to an end a strike that had shuttered most of Broadway for 19 days, disrupted the plans of thousands of theatergoers and cost the city tens of millions of dollars in lost revenues.

Broadway Shows Canceled For The Week

NY TIMES: Shortly after the talks with the stagehands’ union broke off on Sunday, the League of American Theaters and Producers announced that performances of the 27 shows affected by the strike would be canceled through next Sunday. The league said the performances were canceled so that tourists could make other plans. It was a surprising move, given that producers had seemed so eager to reach an early agreement when negotiations began months ago, to avoid the risk of a work stoppage during the lucrative holiday season.

Stagehands Strike Continues

NY TIMES: The latest round of talks between the producers’ league and the stagehands’ union broke down last night, leaving no end in sight for the strike that has darkened most of Broadway for nine days.

...The negotiations — which lasted for more than 13 hours Saturday and for 11 hours yesterday — came to a halt a little after 9 p.m.

Bruce Cohen, a spokesman for the stagehands’ union, Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, said in a statement that “producers informed Local 1 that what Local 1 offered was not good enough, and they left.”

This is a big disappointment. I thought that surely a deal would be worked out to salvage the Thanksgiving week, financially the largest week of the year for Broadway. As the day wore on, several colleagues figured that since the League has a $20 million cushion, then why shouldn't they use it? When thought of in those terms, it's not a financial loss at all. They've paid for this week slowly over the last three years.

Will road shows come next?

No one, not the union nor the producers, is talking on the record about what might be the next step in Local 1's battle with the League of American Theatres and Producers. Such a move would need the endorsement of the local's parent union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

It would seriously undermine producers since such megahits as "Wicked" and "Jersey Boys" on the road regularly pull down weekly grosses of $1 million or more.

Fuck You, Joe Allen

When walking west on 46th Street in Manhattan (Restaurant Row), one of the first stops you hit is "Joe Allen". This is one of four Joe Allens owned by the restauratuer of the same name. The other three are in Miami Beach, London and Paris. These are just four of the dozen or so restaurants (including Orso) that Mr. Allen owns. Joe Allen also had the good fortune of Rosie O'Donnell's free advertising when she'd mention her latest adventure while dining there, back in the day when Rosie had a talk show and middle America loved her... you know, before the midwest housewives found out she was a lesbian.

I've often walked by and thought I might try the food, although the prospect of paying $13.50 for a cheeseburger seems a bit over the top. Well those thoughts are no longer a problem.

From the New York Times:

On Thursday night, the bars were surprisingly lively, especially the hush-hush upstairs joint on 46th Street owned and managed by Joe Allen, the restaurateur. Sinatra played, the low lights flattered older women, the veal was said to be delicious. Mr. Allen, fastidious in velvet, sat at a table passing on a story he had heard about the chief carpenter at the Belasco — or maybe it was the Minskoff — who was losing $8,000 a week because of the strike.

“Think about that for a moment,” Mr. Allen said. “Eight thousand a week. Times 52 weeks — or let’s just say he only works 30. That’s a lot of money in the bank.”

Sitting at the bar, an elegant bald man, who had ordered the veal, raised his fork and agreed.

Mr. Allen’s understanding of the situation is that years ago, when Broadway was “smoking,” the producers cut a deal with the stagehands’ union to pad the payroll and thus avoid a strike. Then, in recent years, a younger generation of producer came along, one who no longer wished to tolerate the union man who will sometimes sit, as it is said, on a beach chair in the back of a truck.

“I saw them picketing the other day on 44th Street and thought to myself, ‘That’s the hardest they’ve worked in years,’” Mr. Allen said.

Mr. Allen's "understanding of the situation" is completely false. My understanding of Mr. Allen is that he an elite snob. To think that his man, who probably never worked hard a day in his life, can sit there and exhort the situation of the union laborer while dressed in velvet, sitting in a restaurant that he owns while most likely hiring illegal immigrants at slave wages to work in his kitchen, makes my blood boil.

One can picture the velvet clad highbrow, with a cigar in one hand and a jewel-encrusted goblet in the other, trying to impress those who enter his establishment with his wisdom of how life works.

The unforunate part is that people will read this piece of shit and take it as fact. It's bad enough that the League of American Theaters and Producers are misquoting salaries and contract rules, but now this asshole is actually exaggerating the exaggerated!

Well, fuck you, Mr. Allen. I am making it my mission to see to it that every working man knows how you feel and they'll thank you by never stepping foot in your establishments. I know of at least 3000 union members that would have an opinion of how you perceive them.

Game on, brohim!

Broadway Stagehands Strike

Don't know if it's news to you or not, my loyal reader, but we are in the midst of a strike.
Local One held a press conference held on Sunday, November 11th, one day after the Broadway stagehands union struck. Negotiations broke down three weeks prior. The stagehands have been working without a contract since July 31st, and after the breakdown in talks, the League of American Theatres and Producers imposed work rules on the union.

Here is the entire press conference:

PART ONE:

PART TWO:

PART THREE:

PART FOUR:

PART FIVE:

PART SIX:

PART SEVEN: