MAY 6, 2011:NWLP
5/3/11
9:54 AM
Page 5
...ULPs filed against Dosha
Seattle theaters
showcase their
union support
Seattle theaters joined in the “We Are One”
national day of action April 4 by putting up
signs honoring their relationship with unions
(see photos of marquees, reader boards, and
window signs from all the major Seattle the-
aters).
“This says loud and clear that Seattle is still a union town,” said An-
drew Willhelm, president of the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)
Local 15. “Just as in Wisconsin, the public supports labor. We’re doing
all we can to make sure that corporate interests don’t hijack our gov-
ernment, the way they have in Wiscon-
sin.”
More than 1,000 cities nationwide
held rallies and marches April 4 in a
show of solidarity with workers under
attack across the nation. In Portland,
some 750 people rallied at Director
Park downtown.
In addition to the signage, the 24
theatrical, sound and stagecraft em-
ployers who have contracts with IATSE Local 15 issued a statement that read in part:
“We are proud to be a union employer. We are committed to bargain fairly and in good
faith with our employees, and to maintaining our history of respect for, and cooperation
with, the labor community.”
Participating theaters with signage included 5th Avenue; A Contemporary The-
atre/ACT; Intiman Theatre; Seattle Children’s Theatre; Seattle Repertory Theatre; and
the Paramount Theatre.
MAY 6, 2011
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
(From Page 1)
bargaining.
Dosha held a mandatory meeting
April 18 for workers at all four of its lo-
cations, at the Aveda Institute. Owner
Ray Motameni spoke briefly and then
introduced Tiernan as Dosha’s newly
hired “business consultant.” A Dosha
employee made a recording of the
meeting, a copy of which was provided
to the Labor Press.
“We want you to know that we are
going to run this company as if there’s
no union here,” Tiernan says in the
recording. “We’re going to deal with
the union and we’re going to negotiate
in good faith, as the law requires us to
do, but we’re going to pretend like
they’re not here.”
“As long as all of you continue to do
your jobs, that’s what’s good for you,”
Tiernan said. “Try to ignore the dis-
traction of the union, because it is a dis-
traction.You’ve just got to stick to your
business.”
During the half-hour-long presenta-
tion, Tiernan largely stuck to standard
anti-union boilerplate: legalistic half-
truths, insinuations, and fear-monger-
ing about hefty initiation fees and
union demands that workers be fired
for not paying dues. With the floor to
himself, Tiernan mocked and derided
CWA, and dampened expectations.
“[Owners Ray and Melissa Mota-
meni] want the freedom to run their
business,” Tiernan said, “and they’re
not to give it up to the union. The
union’s going to want to run this busi-
ness, and I’ve got news for you: Ray is
not going to allow that.”
Tiernan told Dosha workers that ne-
gotiations take a long time, that an
agreement will not be reached in the
next several months, that a “union secu-
rity” clause will be a huge item of con-
tention, and that Motameni will not
agree to anything that will hurt his busi-
ness. To explain what bargaining will
look like, Tiernan hypothesized a sce-
nario in which the union proposes that
all stylists be given a company-owned
Maserati to drive, to which he responds
that the company does not agree.
“The union does not understand this
business,” Tiernan told Dosha workers.
“This is the Communication Workers
of America. These are the folks who
are plugging in cable TV sets, string-
ing wire.”
Through all this, union supporters sat
and bit their tongues. When question
time arrived, several spoke up in rebut-
tal. Tiernan said CWA doesn’t know the
business? Well, what does Tiernan know
about the beauty industry, one worker
asked. At Dosha, the union isn’t some-
one else, said a union supporter. The
workers are the union. And nine of
them, elected by their peers and repre-
senting every location and occupation,
will be at the bargaining table.
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