Pitt Faculty Experts Available to Comment on The Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Strike

PITTSBURGH—Pitt Professor Marick Masters says that the Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees strike centers on "so-called work rules."

"The theaters and producers want to trim work rules that raise the cost of doing business," said Masters. "They claim that these rules force them to pay for workers and work not being done. They want to rid the contract of arguably archaic and arcane provisions that no longer have a valid reason for existing. The union wants to protect job security and income. This is a classic labor-management relations situation that has played out numerous times in many industries."

Masters is a professor of business administration and the director of the Center on Conflict Resolution and Negotiation in the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. He has published extensively on a wide variety of business and organizational topics in numerous disciplines. Masters serves on the editorial board of the "Journal of Labor Research," edits the annual volume "International Perspectives on Employment Dispute Resolution," and was formerly the editor of the "Association for Conflict Resolution Workplace Section News." Masters is also the author of a monthly column in the "Pittsburgh Business Times."

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11/12/07/amm