Blue Man Group Boycott

The Latest News

	November 23 , 2005:
	OFL Convention Adopts Resolution
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	November 21 , 2005:
	Blue Man Coalition Makes Presentaion to OFL Convention
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	September 16 , 2005:
	National Union releases letter of support
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	August 11 , 2005:
	Hawaii State AFL-CIO Adopts Blue Man Group Resolution
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	July 20, 2005:
	AFM International Convention Adopts Blue Man Group Resolution
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	June 28, 2005:
	Screen Actors Guild releases letter pledging support
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	June 26, 2005:
	Canuck unions blue over group
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	June 23, 2005:
	Blue Meanies
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	June 20, 2005:
	Protest greets Blue Man's debut
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	June 20, 2005:
	Protesters see red at Blue Man launch
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	June 18, 2005:
	Modified Blue Man protest to go ahead
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	June 17, 2005:
	Ontario Labour Relations Board Decision
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	June 14, 2005:
	"Anti-Blue Man Experience" opening night rally to go ahead despite legal challenges by Blue Man Group
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	June 14, 2005:
	Blue Man production seeks to bar pickets
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	June 10, 2005:
	The Anti-Blue Man Experience
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	June 9, 2005:
	Earth to Blue Man
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	June 5, 2005:
	Blue Men vs. Blue Collars
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	June 3, 2005:
	Amidst Tiff, Blue Men Unveil Cast
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	June 3, 2005:
	Blue sound Man joins protest
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	June 2, 2005:
	Blue Man Group issues legal threats.
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	June 1, 2005:
	An open letter to the Blue Man Group
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	May 27, 2005:
	Delta Chelsea removes all Blue Man Group promotional collateral
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	May 18, 2005:
	Blue Man boycott hurting ticket sales
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	May 5, 2005:
	Maybe you should read this, Blue Man Group
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	May 5, 2005:
	Billbosard slags Blue Man's 'muddy boots'
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	May 5, 2005:
	Unions picket Blue Man theatre
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	May 5, 2005:
	Toronto unions angry at Blue Man Group
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Blue Man Group will not talk to unions

Actors, musicians, crew urge boycott

Scheduled to open in Toronto June 14

ROBERT CREW
ARTS WRITER

The Blue Man Group will not negotiate with any Toronto union, despite a looming ticket boycott, a spokesperson for the group says.

Manny Igrejas was responding to a boycott announced by three Toronto unions at a media conference yesterday.

"We are clearly not going to be a signatory to any union. That's just not what we do," Igrejas said via phone from New York. "We have built our own business model and offer competitive salaries and full benefits."

The unions - Canadian Actors' Equity, the Toronto Musicians' Union and locals 58 and 149 of the International Alliance of Theatre Stage Employees - are demanding the Blue Man Group negotiate contracts covering base pay, benefits and working conditions before the boycott is lifted.

Toronto audiences will be cheated if the Blue Man Group doesn't reach an agreement with the unions, said Susan Wallace, executive director of Canadian Actors' Equity.

"Consumers and ticket buyers in Toronto are going to get ripped off if they buy tickets to a show where the money ... is not being fairly and equitably distributed to all the members of the production," she said.

Attempts at negotiation have failed and the core problem is one of "pronounced anti-worker mentality," IATSE's Kevin Mahoney said.

Mahoney described the group's actions as "leading to the increasing corporatization of Canadian values, Canadian arts and Canadian culture - in other words, the Wal-Mart phenomenon."
The Toronto production of the Blue Man Group is scheduled to open June 14 at the Panasonic Theatre, formerly the New Yorker.

Igrejas denied allegations that one performer was rejected because he was a member of Canadian Equity. "This is badly untrue," he said. "We have union and non-union members. We are just looking for the most talented people we can find."

The Ontario Federation of Labour, ACTRA and several teachers unions are also among those backing the boycott.

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