POP / ROCK

Union Woes at Universal: About 40 members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) picketed outside the Barham Boulevard entrance to Universal Studios Tuesday, protesting what some crew members claimed was Universal’s attempt to shoot “Child’s Play II” without a union crew. The film, which is in the midst of a 10-week shooting schedule, is being made by independent Living Doll Productions, but Universal, as part of its deal for the film’s theatrical and video rights, has guaranteed the bank loan covering the estimated $12-million budget. Executive producer Bob Brown said “Child’s Play II,” a sequel to a 1988 horror film about a homicidal doll named Chuckie, probably could not have gotten financing as a union film, but added that he told IATSE representatives he would go along with the results of a crew election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board. IATSE spokesman Dale Paule said that by the time the NLRB acted, the “show would be over and the vote meaningless.” Tuesday’s picket line was manned by IATSE members not associated with “Child’s Play II.” Brown said only two of the crew’s more than 150 members didn’t come to work.