Members of Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) protest the use of non-union lighitng and audio technicians in the Spiegelworld's "Empire New York" tent show. The temporary show on West 45th Street is according to IATSE is entirely non-union. RICHARD B. LEVINE/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: lrphotos069434
By Richard Levine and Frances Roberts
Many times over the years we’ve encountered the inflatable union rat. Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) inflated him today because Spiegelworld was using non-union labor in their new show. In case you’ve never heard of them, they are a sort of traveling circus where they set up a tent and for lack of a better description, perform what can be called, not your mother’s circus. The NY Post described them as “an off-beat European circus on acid”. Nuff said.
Members of Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) protest the use of non-union lighitng and audio technicians in the Spiegelworld's "Empire New York" tent show. The temporary show on West 45th Street is according to IATSE is entirely non-union. RICHARD B. LEVINE/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: lrphotos069438
Spiegelworld has performed in New York before. They generally set up their tent at the South Street Seaport during the summer. This year however, they are setting up in a vacant lot right in the middle of the Broadway Theatre District/ Times Square. I guess IATSE felt that the non-union show was infringing on their turf.
Workers inflate a giant rat balloon at the demonstration of laundry workers from JVK laundry, who with supporters from the Teamsters, Workers United/ SEIU, and the Laundry, Distribution & Food Service Joint Board, protest in front of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York on Tuesday, November 1, 2011. The workers allege that the laundry is a sweatshop with workers making poverty wages, no health insurance or sick days. The protesters want HSS to stop using the laundry until the company improves working conditions. RICHARD B. LEVINE/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: lrphotos065426
Now that’s a scary rat. Which is what the Laundry, Distribution and Food Service Joint Board thought also. Apparently, the union took umbrage with the Hospital for Special Surgery because they use a “laundry that allegedly is a sweatshop” (the humor of that statement never ceases to amaze us). So out came the rat along with a crowd of laundry workers.
A giant inflatable rat is deflated after a hard day protesting non-union labor on August 31, 2001. Scabby the Rat has recently celebrated his 20th birthday serving labor unions since 1990. During their height there were 30 inflatable creatures in New York but no one is actually sure how many still survive here. FRANCES M. ROBERTS/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: lrphotos057964
And of course after a hard day of protesting, Scabby the Rat gets deflated and he has earned a well deserved rest. Scabby’s apparently come in numerous sizes from six feet to 30 feet. We don’t think a 30 foot rat was ever in New York (unless he was in a sewer) probably because of whatever local laws govern this sort to of thing, 30 feet would be too tall. Twelve feet seems to be the most popular height.
Richard Levine and Frances Roberts, of Levine Roberts Photography, are a husband and wife team of photographers covering politics, environmental issues, the economy, business, and social and cultural issues in the Big Apple. See more photos from their collection on Newscom.
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