At a quarter to noon today, Riviera Theatre stagehands fired by Jam Productions earlier this fall inflated a giant rat outside the Old Town offices of one of the country’s last remaining big independent concert promoters. The workers hung a sign around its neck: “I was knifed by a ‘Jerry Mickelson’ slacker for being a union backer.” The stagehands say the 40 employees that Jam CEO Jerry Mickelson fired in September were let go illegally—they claim he was retaliating because they’d signed cards to authorize a union election. This morning a crowd that included Chicago Federation of Labor secretary and treasurer Bob Reiter, interfaith workers alliance Arise Chicago, former governor Pat Quinn, members of the clergy, and a three-piece band called Chicago Federation of Musicians joined the dozens of stagehands in front of the Jam offices for a rally to get their jobs back.
The stagehands brought up some of the unresolved demands that drove them to organize—including employer-supported health care, better work-life balance, and raises to keep up with inflation and the increasing cost of living. “I haven’t had a raise in 15 years,” Roger said. (The Reader editorial staff voted to unionize in January, for some of the same reasons, but we’ve yet to arrive at a contract.) I tried to call Mickelson this morning before the rally, but was unable to reach him. Late last month Mickelson made his only public statement on the matter so far to WBEZ’s Jim DeRogatis: “There are two sides to every story.” But Jam’s side is still missing.
