One century ago, 146 immigrant workers died in a horrific fire at the Triangle Waist Company in New York City. It was a tragedy that brought to light the exploitive nature of sweatshops and the disparity between workers and owners in a country where a good portion of the workforce was made up of immigrants from around the world. Instead of coming to an idyllic new world, they found themselves struggling to overcome a language and cultural barrier that left most of them enduring atrocious working conditions and a life of paucity.
Fearing the loss of their much-needed employment, they quietly bore brunt of their dreadful working conditions while suffering ignominious and exploitive treatment. While unions such as the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) and the Women's' Trade Union League (WTUL) were at the time fighting for better work conditions, the fire made the deficiencies of workers' rights quite obvious.
Forced Work
Our country was built upon the backs of slave labor, and it can be argued that throughout the history of mankind, as an economic model, slavery works well…for a few. Just look at the enduring monuments the Egyptians managed to build using slave labor. It is inconceivable to think that the Sphinx, the Great Pyramids or the amazing Egyptian temples would have been built if, at that time, the labor force was unionized. In Europe during the Middle Ages, the feudal system – a tiered caste system – saw the King granting land to Barons (Nobility) in exchange for fealty, money and Knights. The Barons then granted land to the Knights who, for the privilege of the land grant, provided military service and protection to the Baron and their King. The Knights then granted land to the Serfs (Peasants) who actually worked the land to provide food and any other services required of them by all of the above.
Haves vs. Have Nots
Throughout the ages, and traversing every culture, there have always been the haves and the have-nots living in a delicately balanced harmony, until one day the have-nots explode in a fit of "have-nottingness" and rebel against the haves. It's an enduring story which is still being played out around the world and will most likely continue to do so for time ad infinitum. Now, with a budget crises looming over most cities and states, civil servants are in danger of losing benefits, pensions and collective bargaining rights. It's happening from Wisconsin to New York, and while big business is profiting over sleazy and corrupt deals, the workers and middle class are showing less gain and losing more benefits.
This year, between them, the CEO and chairman of Ford Motors received compensation of nearly $100 million, and this in the State of Michigan, which has the second-highest unemployment rate in the country. Again, this is nothing new in the world of high finance. Just read the history of the Robber Barons of the late 1800s and you can see that the contemporary businessmen are no more corrupt or evil than J.P. Morgan or John D. Rockefeller.
We live in a time where athletes and entertainers make multi-millions and firemen, policemen and teachers are in jeopardy of losing their jobs and pensions. Labor unions, which were created for the protection of workers, also have their downside and are not without their power plays, political scandals and corrupt leaders, but c'est la vie.
Six-Figure Gigs
Speaking of unions; Columnist James Ahearn of New Jersey's Bergen Record reports that the average stagehand's salary and benefits at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall is $290,000 a year. He also reports that "the top paid stagehand at Carnegie Hall makes $422,599 a year in salary, plus $107,445 in benefits and deferred compensation." Mr. Ahearn's article reveals his resentment at these stagehands' compensation because these are "workers who move musicians' chairs into place and hang lights." He also resents the power of their union, Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, or I.A.T.S.E., but while the payment seems high, Mr. Ahearn fails to mention that most of these stagehands work an average of 80 hours a week to receive their compensation, or that living in or around the New York area is more expensive than other areas of the country.
Broken down to a rate of $37.50 per hour, these stagehands earning a yearly salary of $290,000 apiece make $300 for the first eight hours of work and $450 for the second eight hours of work (calculated at $56.25 per hour) for a combined total of $750 for a 16-hour day. If they work seven days a week, they earn $5,250 per week; and at 52 weeks, they earn about $273,000 per year. Not for nothing, the hands I have spoken with tell me that the schedules for these venues are overly demanding and that, for all intents and purposes, they virtually live at the venue.
Just as a note – if we figure the compensation for the CEO and chairman of Ford at approximately one million dollars a week each, their individual daily rate is $142,857, or about $17,857 per hour if they are only working a 40-hour week. Considering their positions I will assume that they have to put in quite a few hours at their job, so if they work a 16-hour day with the second eight hours of the day being paid at time-and-a-half, they still make about $7,150 per hour. Not bad work if you can get it – and I bet they don't even move any chairs.
There aren't many audio guys in the union, but the ones I know have told me that they can make anywhere from $500 to $1,500 per day, depending upon the length of the call. Non-union wages paid to engineers by local audio companies vary from hourly rates to flat day rates on a per-gig basis. There is no set standard, and local rates vary from town to town and market to market.
Many road gigs pay according to the popularity of the band. If a band is new and on tour as an opening act, they may only have $500 per week to pay their engineers, while a major act filling arenas might pay $700 a week just for per diem alone. There are a handful of engineers working with top grossing bands who can make huge salaries above and beyond a union rate, but there is no real criteria for how a road gig or tour should pay, and since tours usually do not fall under union jurisdiction, the remuneration for said gig is decided upon by the individual act and the technician themselves. Every road gig is different and negotiated accordingly.
A top act that is not touring in support of a current CD, but still going out and doing one-offs – or even a few weeks at a time – may pay between $500 and $700 per day for an engineer plus a $50 or $60 per diem, but there is a caveat. The act may need to fly to a destination for an event, and this would mean they need to leave on a Friday to ensure a timely arrival for the Saturday sound check and show. The concert ends late on Saturday, which means that the return flight is not until Sunday, and if the artist does not pay for fly days, then the $500 or $700 paycheck needs to be divided by three to figure the weekend salary. In hourly terms, if the two fly days equal 12 hours a day and the show date is a 24-hour day, the engineer's gross salary is then a shade more than $10 per hour of time spent for this particular gig. Is it worth it? For someone with a low rent, no family and no other work, it may be the perfect gig. For someone else, it might be a long three days.
If you are an engineer who can command $5,000 per week on the road, then on a yearly basis, your salary will be commensurate with the crew members from Lincoln Center. On the other hand, if a gig only offers $1,500 per week, the recompense is a bit different. As a flat rate offer, it sounds pretty good, but if we figure that the gig starts when one leaves their house and ends when they return home, then the pay is a bit less than $10 per hour for a 168-hour week. In recognition of the fact that most gigs do not pay until the worker is clocked in, we can remove eight hours from the bill for travel to and from the airport, although, even with this allowance, the gig still pays less than $10 per hour. If we figure that the $1,500 includes overtime, then depending upon how one calculates this overtime, the initial hourly wage is anywhere from $3 to $7 per hour.
This recompense doesn't quite rival that of the highest paid hands at Lincoln Center, and it certainly falls short of the salary made by the Ford honchos. But despite the lack of a union contract, it's at least better than being a serf.
