The local union for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 12, staged a demonstration in front of Ohio State University's Mershon Auditorium on Friday.
About a dozen members of IATSE Local 12 held signs reading "Ohio State - Unfair to Local Labor."
IATSE Local 12 business agent Brian Thomas said 37 union members had been set to work on the "Paw Patrol" show this weekend at Mershon Auditorium. On Wednesday, they were told Ohio State would only hire people who were "onboarded" with the university. That meant most of the stage hands were out of a job, 48 hours before the workers were supposed to begin setting up the show.
"We feel like it was dirty tactics, it was deliberate, especially coinciding with the Schottenstein vote," Thomas said.
Thomas was referring to a vote among Schottenstein Center workers to potentially unionize. Workers filed with the State Employees Relations Board about a year ago for a representational vote. The vote closed on Tuesday, one day before IATSE's contract confusion, Thomas said.
Ohio State hired an outside company, which Thomas said was from Cincinnati. Friday afternoon, people could be seen unloading large trailers in front of Mershon Auditorium as they prepared for the show.
University spokesman Ben Johnson said that Ohio State did not cancel a contract with IASTE.
"Our in-house stagehands are not required to work any particular show. In this case, not enough employees signed up to work this weekend. When that happens, we work with an approved external vendor to fill the vacancies," Johnson wrote in an email to WOSU.
Thomas said IASTE Local 12 members planned to return on Saturday and that he expected a few friends of the union to join.
Pranav Jani, president of the Ohio State Chapter of the University of Professors, or AAUP, came out on Friday to show his support.
"We get seen a certain way because we're faculty," Jani said. "At the end of the day, we're workers ourselves, we're employees ourselves. And if we on campus can't stand together as different groups of workers who make this place run, then, you know, we have to stand together."
Jani said he also wanted to show support for all unions because of Senate Bill 1, a Republican-backed bill that passed the Ohio Senate mostly along party lines. Among other provisions, it targets diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education, but it also takes away Ohio faculty members' right to strike.
"SB1 is absolutely about labor rights. And it connects with these issues, as well about as labor rights across the university," Jani said.
