Theatre strike silences Cats

In January 2001, the IG Medien German media workers' union called a strike of technical staff at the "Cats" musical in Hamburg, in a dispute with the Stella music corporation over job losses and the transfer of "Cats" to Stuttgart. After a number of performances had been cancelled, a settlement was reached with the conclusion of a new framework agreement and social plan to accompany the redundancies.

Stella, the German music corporation, recently decided to restructure its theatre business and to move the performance of the musical "Cats" from Hamburg to Stuttgart. In this context, the company negotiated a framework agreement with the media workers' union Industriegewerkschaft Medien (IG Medien), which guaranteed the pay and working conditions of those employees who were to be transferred to other musicals. The agreement was accompanied by a social plan providing severance pay for the 90 or so employees who were to lose their jobs. After both parties had apparently agreed on the terms of the agreements, Stella asked for a period of grace before signing the document. To the union's surprise, and shortly before this period had expired, the company withdrew from the agreement. According to Sigrid Schwarze, Stella's spokesperson, the company considered the agreement to be just a non-binding draft version requiring further specification. The company's move occurred shortly before "Cats" was due to be relocated to Stuttgart.

On 15 January 2001, IG Medien called more than 40 workers from the Hamburg theatre's technical department out on strike, under the slogan "the cats are not dancing anymore", and successfully closed down the show. As the union had not called a strike in its theatre division for more than 30 years, this action seemed to be somewhat risky. However, on the first night of the strike, several members of the cast expressed solidarity with the stage workers, dressers and safety inspectors taking action, with the result that Stella had to send the entire audience home.

During the first week of the strike, the company put pressure on the strikers. In a press release, Stella announced that it would reduce its initial offer of DEM 1.5 million in severance pay by DEM 100,000 for every day of the strike. At this time, several actors and musicians working on "Cats" called in sick and the company feared that it would become the target of a "sick out". While the union rejected such accusations, Stella ordered all cast members who had reported sick to be examined by a doctor chosen by the company. The works council finally put a stop to this practice. Stella's management continued with a "stick and carrot" strategy. First, it hired 10 strike replacement workers, and second it announced plans to join the employers' association for the theatre industry (Deutscher Bühnenverein), knowing that this particular employers' association negotiates collective agreements for actors and artists only, and would not provide technical workers with a collective agreement.

Despite this initial heavy opposition from Stella management, both parties finally came to terms. On 25 January 2001, IG Medien and Stella agreed a social plan and a new framework agreement which will provide the basis for similar agreements to cover the company's Berlin, Bochum and Stuttgart theatres. Among other points, the new agreement will introduce a "success bonus". It appears that what brought management back to the bargaining table was that IG Medien successfully managed to enlarge the scope of the action. After the workforce at "Phantom of the Opera", the second Stella musical located in Hamburg, demanded that a collective agreement be negotiated, the company conceded.