Local 15 History      previous    1    2    3

A great many of the boys were afraid of the managers, afraid they would lose their jobs if they joined the union. After a lot of hard talking we convinced the managers that they would receive better services from competent and reliable men, and that the general theatre-going public would realize the difference in the running and handling of the various shows and it would surely make a difference in the box office receipts. It did not take the managers long to realize the difference in the running of their shows. They immediately saw the difference from the time they hired mere boys and any pick-ups they found on the streets.

Local 15, N.A.T.S.E., was organized in 1893 with the following members: W.Q. Clark, W.O. Jefferson, H. Hardy, Wm. Ward, George Thomas, H.W. Cunningham, Chas. Lee, J.A. Ward, Roy Pinkham, Jack Birch, Wm. Morse, Geo. Hildebrandt, F.J. Clark, John Lydon, J.C. Kloose and Wm. Pyncheon. Soon after we were organized our union had a membership of about 24 and I think at one time it dwindled down to about 15 members

During the panic of 1894 and 1895 there was no show business to speak of, and it was hard work to keep the union together. On two of three occasions we came near losing our charter. There was no work and the members had no money to pay dues. Two or three of us had to dig and scrape to get enough money to pay our per capita tax rather than lose our charter. Some of the members wanted to let the charter go, but we fought against it and won out. Few of the members of today realize the struggle the older members had in keeping Local 15 together.

From time to time we raised our wage scale and was generally lucky in getting a raise for the local. We went along for a while with the grips getting 75 cents a show and then got $1.00 and then another raise to $1.25 and then $1.50. Then we got 25 cents an hour for overtime and then 35 cents, and finally 50 cents and $1.75 for grips. Our scale of wages has steadly increased since the local was organized and today we are getting a scale equal to any local in the Alliance. The local of today is made up of a body of men of intelligence, industrious workers and good citizens and men who own homes and have happy families, all though their efforts to better their conditions, morally and financially, through their good efforts and true unionism.