Somerville Theater Strike

[frederic.livejournal.com]

Labor Day showed itself to Davis Square in the form of a strike in front of the Somerville Theater. It was a protest asking for the theater to hire unionized projectionists (or allow theirs to join the union).(1)

After getting a coffee and reading in Diesel, I saw a bunch of police cruiser lights flashing down the street. I had seen a bunch of crusty punk types hanging out in Davis before I went into Diesel and noted to myself that they weren't in a relaxed hanging-out sort of mood, but more in a tense, anticipatory mood. There were nine cruisers and a bunch of Somerville, MBTA, and later Medford police (and later one paddy wagon). The police almost outnumbered the picketers. The picketers were marching in an oval in front and letting people in (though yelling 'scab' at the people entering (2)).

At some point after the paddy wagon pulled up, they grabbed the "lead" protester - well, the one with the megaphone. Three cops hauled him off in a headlock to the wagon. Other cops moved in with their billy clubs drawn and moved the picketers over. Several people got choked. Pictures were taken as one of the people getting manhandled asked the crowd to do so. Allegedly some of the police were trying to control their own from using excessive violence.

At some point after the paddy wagon pulled up, they grabbed the "lead" protestor - well, the one with the megaphone. Three cops hauled him off in a headlock to the wagon. All of this without getting on their own speaker systems and asking the strike to move or disperse. Other cops moved in with their billy clubs drawn and moved the picketers over. Several people got choked. Pictures were taken as one of the people getting manhandled asked the crowd to do so. Allegedly some of the police were trying to control their own from using excessive violence.

The police must have realized that there was nothing illegal about the protest and then let continue even after I left which was over 90 minutes after the strike started. Apparently, you can be in front of the entrance as long as you are moving. Most of the cruisers left and so did most of the onlookers. Some police stayed on.

Feel free to disagree with my opinions as well as share your thoughts, accounts, and photos.

(1) One of my problems with this is that the theater is a rarity in that it isn't a Sony-Loews Megaplex that charges excessive amounts for its tickets. If the theater raises pay, then it raises ticket prices, which in turn causes fewer people to go to a second run theater when they can see first runs or rent. Small businesses often struggle to stay alive as is in the Walmartization of society.

(2) I commented to Special-Pete (I bumped into him there) that the picketers needed to take Strike 101 to get the terminology correct and to learn the chants better. Pete was upset that they weren't asking/replying "When do we want it? NOW!" Within 5 minutes, someone must have clued them in since they started chanting it.

Comments

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

A friend's housemate is in the hospital right now, having been throttled unconscious by the police at the protest. There is another protest tonight, and I will be nearby with a video camera to make sure there is a better record should something similar happen, though hopefully it will be sufficient as a deterrent.

Thank you for posting this account.

[dylanashes.livejournal.com]

(1) One of my problems with this is that the theater is a rarity in that it isn't a Sony-Loews Megaplex that charges excessive amounts for its tickets. If the theater raises pay, then it raises ticket prices, which in turn causes fewer people to go to a second run theater when they can see first runs or rent. Small businesses often struggle to stay alive as is in the Walmartization of society.


i used to work at the somerville theatre.

The entire building is owned by a single person. he decided that running a theatre would be fun. he collects rent from the someday cafe, double take (a magazine upstairs) and whatever is on the third floor. They hold concerts which make a conciderable sum of money for the theatre. he also owns a number of apartments buildings (the one next to the library in davis is an example) in the cambridge/somerville area.
he is literally sitting on a few million dollars.
he can afford to pay a little bit more.
that's all i'm saying.

[frederic.livejournal.com]

Encourage them to write letters.

I know that one guy went up to get badge numbers and was refused this information. He took their pictures instead (afterwards) and is planning to lodge a complaint since they are required to give the number if asked.

At first, I thought that the problem was that they were blocking the entrance, but since they were constantly moving and allowing traffic in and out, they were not breaking the law. The some of the Somerville Police acted like goons. I don't think that they're used to crowds (like Cambridge/Central Square is) so they might've overreacted.

[rojagato.livejournal.com]

I came through the picket when it was just starting. I was not impressed (http://www.livejournal.com/users/rojagato/45920.html) favorably.

In my write-up, I was very unfair in characterizing the picketers, even though I am, too, a motorcycle-jacketed, Manic-Panicked lackey of the corporate state. If any of them (outside the one AFL-CIO guy) actually held a union card, I will enthusiastically eat crow. I am very outraged at the police brutality. But I am still outraged at the picking on FEI. Sure, FEI sits on a lot of real estate, including the second-run theaters in the western 'burbs. They also employ a lot of people and keep their properties up to code, which is more than we can say about a lot of places.

I mean, please. Picket my former landlord, Ken Ryan, instead. You want someone who sits on millions of dollars of real estate? Lets his tenants live in squalor? Pays his El Salvadoran and Moroccan refugee "employees" shit (if at all) while he holds the spector of deportation over them? Funnels the water bill through his ex-wife, who doesn't pay so the tenants get the court summons? Go to Oak Square and picket there. And let me know when you do.

[rojagato.livejournal.com]

He (FEI) actually owns at least three theaters (the Somerville, the Arlington Capitol, and the Belmont), all former vaudeville palaces that had been slated for destruction, and he sunk a lot of money into making them habitable and enjoyable, let alone to code. Having staged a production at the Somerville, I take issue with the "considerable sums of money"--for what I paid to the venue, the pickets should have taken the Middle East as well [1], since the Saters charge a lot more for a lot less for the Downstairs.

FEI also staged the Bruce Springsteen concert at cost (I know since I talked to the non-union stage crew), for the benefit of Double Take.
_____________________________
[1] Maybe they did--I just wasn't at Central Square tonight.

[rojagato.livejournal.com]

That is just horrendous and unforgivable. All I can think is that Somerville police thought they were in Seattle, which they weren't. I was peeved walking through that picket, but it was just an annoyance. No one was breaking windows (that I saw). There was no call for chokeholds. I hope that there were a lot of pictures taken, and I hope that there were clear shots of badge numbers.

I don't agree with the target, but I don't agree with the brutality, either.

I hope the friend's housemate is okay.

[arakasi.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the great eyewitness account.

Anyone know if this made it into any (other) news outlets?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

He returned from the hospital late last night, with finger-bruises around his neck and having difficulty speaking. The hospital report had indicated the cause of injury as "assault", so a cop came in to question him about it and ask if he wanted to press charges. When the cop heard the perp was an officer, he backed off. I believe the plan is to call the ACLU today and work from there.

I am so confused about the neighborhood these days. I had a certain kind of view, and then things like this happen. Another friend received death threats for hanging an American flag upside down in front of his house during the war. Gah.

Thanks for posting your account of things, btw.

[spitcurl.livejournal.com]

I was at the film which was showing during the protest. I wrote about it in my journal today as well. I did not witness any police brutality, so my journal entry reflects that. I am sorry to hear that there were headlocks and choke holds. The Somerville police, in my dealings with them, have been the most understanding and laid back of any I have encountered (but I haven't encountered them in a protest). A friend who witnessed the events before we showed up (about 6:40) said that the swarms of cops showed up when one of the protesters got violent. So that's where I thought things stood until I heard otherwise today.

The word from the festival organizer, who is a Union member, was that the protest was started for the reasons stated above, but that none of the protest organizers were Union members, and the protest was not endorsed by the Union. He and the filmmakers in the festival support the Union and union wages. (But they do not pay the salaries of these guys either.) Knowing that this was a non-union demonstration, I considered them protesters, not picketers. Don't picketers, as Union-members, have different rules and rights for demonstrating? I am unclear and unsure of the regulations on picketing.

Had the Union shown up and backed this protest, my opinion of it would be more favorable. But as it stands, we need places like The Somerville and Brattle. Much of what they show cannot be seen elsewhere in New England. It also sounds like the protesters are confused. You don't yell "Scab" at a movie-goer. A Scab would be the fill-in projectionist, right? And yelling at the director & actress? These aren't billionaire Hollywood types, they are real people with modest incomes and interest in artistic expression.