Safety got the hook, stagehand union says

As the strike by Broadway stagehands entered its second day, union representatives charged producers with bad faith, contending that a management decision to unilaterally impose unfair and unsafe new working conditions had provoked the strike.

“We worked for months to make a deal,” said James J. Claffey Jr., president of Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

The union’s 2,200 stagehands have been without a contract since July 31.

He said at a news conference Sunday that the producers made a mockery of three months of talks by their recent decision to introduce working rules the union had not agreed to.

Local 1 members, who did not comment on the strike during its first day, also said management had insulted union members, by exaggerating their incomes.

Until the union is shown more respect, leaders said, the strike will continue.

Later in the day, Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the League of American Theatres and Producers, said in a statement: “We have the highest regard and respect for our stagehands. But they are not, as the union leadership characterizes them, the typical ‘little guys’ as far as compensation is concerned.”

At the heart of the conflict -- which has shuttered 27 productions, including some of the biggest hits on Broadway -- is a dispute over the number of stagehands needed to produce shows on the Great White Way.

Producers have attacked so-called featherbedding in the previous contract.

Stagehands have protested cuts, fearing loss of job security and safety in the workplace, and have called for compensating financial concessions should staffing levels be reduced.

No new talks have been scheduled in the stoppage, the second to hit Broadway in five years.

The strike costs New York and the theater district an estimated $17 million a day, according to the League of American Theatres and Producers.

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josh.getlin@latimes.com