Opening of Labor Negotiations at the Metropolitan Opera

From email.

Statement by Joe Hartnett, IATSE's Assistant Director of Stagecraft on the Opening of Labor Negotiations at the Metropolitan Opera

NEW YORK, NY – Scapegoating labor won't fix the Metropolitan Opera's problems. Labor costs for IATSE members have only increased by 2.91 percent since 2007, less than the rate of inflation over the past seven years. Meanwhile the Met's budget has grown from $190 million to $311 million, a 60 percent increase.


We don't have a labor cost problem at the Met -- we have a management spending problem. If we want to avert an opera tragedy we should address all costs, including the surge in the number of costly productions and management bloat. We can save the Met, but it means all of us working together to bring the budget in line.


For more information, contact:

Jamie Horwitz, 202/549-4921 or by email at jhdcpr@starpower.net


Six local unions of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) represent backstage employees at the Metropolitan Opera: Local 1 represents skilled craftsmen who are experts with carpentry, lighting, sound, props, set and building construction. Local 764 includes costume shop employees who create the costumes, along with dressers who assist the performers with their costumes. Other 764 members represent the child actor guardians who care for children backstage. Local 751 are the workers who most frequently interact with the public, box office employees such as Treasurers and Ticket Sellers. Local 798 are the artists responsible for hair and makeup. Local 794 represents technicians involved in the Met’s live broadcasts. USA 829 (Scenic Artists and Designers) represents painters as well as the designers of sets, lighting, costumes, and sound.