1. I believe this is true - they are paid in four hour increments, something the league would like to change.
2. More complicated - if I've read correctly, if a crew member is hired for a load-in of a show he must be paid for the entire load in, whether he works three days or the entire load in (which can take two weeks). However, I'm not sure on this one, so don't take my word for it.
3. Every theater has flies - it's where the lights hang. However, not every theater uses them for the production (mostly plays). I have not heard the $160,000 figure, but routinely have heard the League say $150,000 for department heads. The Union says it's more like 80K, but they are not including all the benefits and overtime, which the League is.
And... (ah,
A Chorus Line reference)
Most of the unions have "minimum calls" (Actor's Equity, American Federation of Musicians, etc.). The minimum "show call" for musicians is three hours. What this means is that whether a show happens to run around 90 minutes or one act (like
Xanadu or
The Drowsy Chaperone or
A Chorus Line, or whether it runs the traditional two acts and almost three hours (like
Mary Poppins and
Wicked), the musicians are paid the same base pay. Doublings (playing more than one instrument), assistant and associate conductors designations are based on the base bay. -However, some "title" designations can be and usually are negotiated (musical director, musical supervisor, etc.).
Some people may say that it's unfair to be paid the same amount of money whether you work for 90 minutes or 150 minutes, well... You have to look at as a "per service" fee, which is essentially what it is. And over the long haul, it all evens out. -And I don't even want to think if either side were to start negotiating based on actual running times for each show: What if a show started a few minutes late due to a problem at the box office or a technical issue? What if the pacing of the show happened to be slower of faster that night thus affecting the running time? Etc., etc., etc. Talk about your nickel-and-diming.
For the AFM - and for AEA - if a show were to go into overtime - past three hours - then those overtimes blocks are based on 15 minute segments. We are not paid for another three-hour call. I believe that IATSE's overtime increments based on half-hour (30 minute) segments. *When
Les Miserables first opened, it ran about three hours and ten minutes, and the producers and unions had worked out a standard "overtime" arrangement. Of course, some nights the show would end up running three hours and 16 minutes... Ooops. Well... That was when they show was overhauled and was cut down to under three hours.
Les Miserables was also the first show I remember where when they said the show would start at 8:00, it started at 8:00!
Please take your seats. Now!What I've commented about concerns "show call", however, it seems that most of the points of contention between The League and Local One are based on pre-production and rehearsal and preview period. And all the other Unions also have different scales and agreements for the "before Opening" and "after Opening" periods.
In any case...
The New York Times has some pretty good articles on the strike, and I'd check those articles for the facts and figures - at least the ones the League and Local One are releasing. There is a ton(!) of fine print in the contracts from both sides. And a lot of that "fine print" is insurance that people will show up for work each day, and that it will be worth their while to show up for work every day. Now it's just a matter of seeing which side will "compromise" first, and not see "compromise" as a term for "loser". And at this point, there can really be no winner.
