[SML] Boston Mayor's aides convicted of demanding music festival hire union stagehands.

[Dale Farmer]

I did not say the union was behind it.  I said that the reputation of 
the union took a black eye. and unions in general.  Public opinion is 
often wildly in opposition to the facts.  In politics, perceptions and 
preconceptions hold lots more weight than objective reality.

Mayor Walsh was a long time union activist and president of a local 
before launching into city politics.  He made promises during his 
election that he would not pressure anyone to hire union labor in any 
official capacity.

I should mention there was an earlier trial a year before over permits 
for some cable TV cooking show filming with non-union labor. A similar 
storyline was presented by the feds, where the jury returned a not 
guilty verdict to Walsh's aides.

One would think that having the FBI investigate and the feds prosecute 
ones coworkers over pressuring a non-union operation to hire union labor 
would have had them being a bit more cautious in their conduct.  But it 
seems not.

and yeah, I have been threatened by union thugs for being a non-union 
worker on jobs they were trying to take over.  This was after I applied 
to the union and never got a response to my repeated inquiries.  So I 
have little sympathy for the union.

Dale



On 8/10/2019 2:53 PM, June Abernathy via Stagecraft wrote:
> So, the festival organizers assumed that the City Hall staffers were 
> demanding that they use union labor in exchange for approving permits, 
> although that had not been the case in previous years. The jury 
> apparently agreed with that view.
> 
> You, Dale, are assuming that the union was behind this situation? 
> Pressuring the City Staffers to pressure the event organizers into using 
> Union labor? There is no mention in the article of this. You’re assuming 
> that is what everyone will assume and that therefore the situation is a 
> “black eye to the union’s reputation”?
> 
> That’s a lot of assuming for facts not in evidence. I think I’m going to 
> withhold judgement here.
> 
> June Abernathy
> IATSE #321
> FOH Electrician
> The Lion King National Tour
> 
> On Aug 9, 2019, at 2:15 PM,Dale Farmer <dale at cybercom.net 
> <mailto:dale at cybercom.net>> wrote:
>> Short version.   Two senior city hall staffers were in a final meeting
>> with the Boston Calling music festival organizers days before the event.
>>  They say they asked the organizers to hire union stagehands.  But they
>> still had not handed over the final city permits needed for the event
>> when they asked.  The festival organizers felt that if they didn't agree
>> to what they viewed as a demand, they wouldn't get the needed city
>> permits.    They hired union stagehands and got the permits.  Someone
>> asked the FBI to investigate and this trial resulted.
>>
>> My memory (Unreliable on this, as I never worked the event myself) was
>> that in prior years, they used a mix of paid non-union stagehands, and
>> volunteers. anyone with first hand knowledge, feel free to correct facts.)
>>
>> My opinion, big black eye to the union's reputation.
>>
>> Dale
> 
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