Theatrical Stage Employees Local No. 78

Theatrical Stage Employees Local No. 78 (also known as the Stagehands Union, Theatrical Stage Employees of Birmingham Alabama or IATSE Local No. 78) is the Birmingham local chapter of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada (IATSE).

The alliance, founded in New York City in 1893, represents technical staff employed in live theater and concert production, motion picture production, television production and broadcasting, trade show and exhibition staging, and equipment manufacturing and construction trades that support the entertainment industry. In the Birmingham area the local is organized as a stagehands' union which contracts with Live Nation and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra for concert production.

Local No. 78 is organized under IATSE's District 7, which has offices in Wilmington, North Carolina. The local offices are located in the Margaret Robbins Labor Center at 1901 10th Avenue South. The current president is Adam Stermer.

In 1924 the Theatrical Stage Employees Local No. 78 erected a monument at Elmwood Cemetery as a memorial to its deceased members.

In 1932 members of the local organized a strike against Wilby-Kincey Theatres, which had purchased the Alabama Theatre and assigned longer working hours with smaller crews. The dispute escalated into violence, with two incidents of firebombs being thrown into the theater on October 15 and December 25. Neither incident caused injuries or significant damage, though three ladies fainted as a result of the second bombing, which filled the auditorium with smoke during a holiday screening of "A Farewell to Arms" with Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes.

References

• Brock, Glenny (2015) The Alabama Theatre: Showplace of the South. Birmingham: Birmingham Landmarks Inc. ISBN 0996253556

External links

• Local 78 at iatse.net