Davidoff Lights

With just weeks to go before the grand opening of the Overture Center, the governing board of the $208 million cultural arts facility is locked in a labor dispute with its stagehands, the technicians who do everything from setting up shows to working sound equipment to running the lights.

But the stagehands assure the public they won't do anything to disrupt the grand opening.

Earlier this year the Madison Cultural Arts District Board declined to recognize its stagehands as a bargaining unit or grant them a formal contract. The issue is now in the courts.

The stagehands, who work on an as-needed basis, are represented by Local 251 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada.

For decades, these workers have been paid by the city of Madison based on rates negotiated in their other contracts with Frank Productions, the main local promoter in Madison.

Chris Gauthier, a longtime stagehand, said the uncertainty over the transition from the Madison Civic Center to Overture Center prompted the union's desire to formalize its relationship with the facility.

"People were getting nervous about ownership changing," said Gauthier, noting that his union has provided stagehands to the site since the Capitol Theatre opened in 1928."We thought we'd get something in writing."

Bruce Davey, attorney for the stagehands, said the union wants to be able to negotiate directly with the Overture Center over wages, hours and conditions of employment.

But Gauthier said it's about more than wages and schedules. Stagehands, he said, are an eccentric bunch who are uncommonly devoted to the institutions they care for.

"They kind of think of it as their own," he said. "They don't want people messing it up."

Loyalty to their job also means that the union won't let a labor dispute interfere with a smooth debut for the Overture Center.

"We're going to be there and we're going to have smiles on our faces and do whatever it takes to make this building the most successful in town," Gauthier said.

When the union filed a petition with the Wisconsin Relations Employment Commission seeking an election to form a collective bargaining unit, both the city and arts district board opposed the petition.

The board argued that the part-time stagehands were independent contractors and not employees of the arts district.

The city of Madison, likewise, contended that the stagehands were independent contractors and not employees of the city.

The commission dismissed the petition based on its finding that the stagehands were not employees of the district. However, it ruled that they were employees of the city, and not independent contractors.

Last month, the board appealed the commission's findings in Dane County Circuit Court.

In its petition for judicial review, the board charged that the commission's decision "adversely affects" the arts district.

Overture Center Director Bob D'Angelo said the district filed the appeal in concert with the city.

"We did this together," he said. "We don't believe they are city of Madison employees, either."

Attorney Steven Zach, who represents the cultural arts board, said he filed the appeal now to preserve the district's right to contest the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission's decision that stagehands were not independent contractors.

Zach declined to elaborate on why stagehands should be classified as independent contractors or why allowing stagehands to bargain collectively would have a negative effect on Overture.

Assistant City Attorney Larry O'Brien said he is waiting to see if the stagehands re-file their petition with the Wisconsin Relations Employment Commission, this time naming the city, rather than the cultural arts board, as its employer.

"I'm not going to appeal if there's nothing to appeal," he said.

He also noted that if the stagehands do petition to the city to unionize, they might have to join Local 60 of AFSCME, which represents four supervisory stage technicians at Overture, rather than be part of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

Gauthier said the stagehands plan to re-file their petition this week with the city named as employer.

And, based on advice from the Wisconsin Relations Employment Commission, the petition will also cover members of Local 251, who work at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center.