Workers Vote To Strike U.S. Open

Gazette photo Box office workers at the U.S. Open voted overwhelmingly Monday night to authorize a strike against the United States Tennis Association (USTA).

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Ball Park Ticket Sellers Local F-72’s unresolved contract dispute with the United States Tennis Association over a simple cost-of-living increase may lead to more ticket buyers getting soaked by Ticketmaster, which normally loads ticket buyers with extra fees, service surcharges and delivery charges, the union maintains.

In 2003, USTA/NTC, a not-for-profit corporation, reported $62.3 million in income ($12.7 million after expenses).

“We're simply asking for a modest cost-of-living increase for the life of the contract and the rehiring of our work team, some of whom have been serving tennis fans for twenty years,” Michael G. McCarthy, IATSE Local F-72 president, said. “The public shouldn't have to pay processing fees, service fees and delivery fees. Our work shouldn't be outsourced or subcontracted.”

Union officials charged that the USTA has been training non-union and inexperienced people on the operation of Ticketmaster machines at the Tennis Center, which, they said, leads to speculation that if the USTA forces the union to walk out in the course of the strike, U.S. Open patrons will be buying all their onsite tickets through Ticketmaster.

The union, whose contract expired December 31, 2004, is filing an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the USTA for bad faith bargaining and failure to bargain regarding its subcontracting of the work with the National Labor Relations Board.

Over the last decades, the USTA has been moving more and more tickets to electronic offsite systems. Today, fans of the Open are increasingly forced to purchase tickets through Ticketmaster and pay its high service fees and handling charges in addition to the list price, union officials said.

Up until now, tickets to the U.S. Open have been sold at face value by union workers at the Tennis Center ticket windows. The top ticket price to the U.S. Open is $800.

According to the union, the USTA has been outsourcing or subcontracting services over the last few years, and has only two unions remaining on its payroll, the ushers and the ticket sellers.

Ball Park Ticket Sellers Local F-72 has been manning the ticket windows for the U.S. Open since it opened 27 years ago on 47 acres of New York City parkland. The small, 166-member union also represents the ticket sellers at Yankee and Shea stadiums. Ticket sellers usually work 10 or more hours per day, seven days a week for the two weeks of the U.S. Open. There are no provisions for health or pension benefits in the contract that expired last year, and none have been requested by the union for the new contract.

Whether or not tennis fans will have to cross picket lines to watch the tennis stars who play for the two weeks of the Open “is in the hands of the union,” a spokesperson for the Open said.

$200 million in tax-exempt New York City Development Agency bonds helped fund the 23,000-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium, the largest tennis stadium in the world with 90 luxury suites, five restaurants and a multi-floor players' lounge.

The White Plains-based USTA and its linked organization, the United States Tennis Association/National Tennis Center (USTA/NTC), are separate corporations; both are not-for-profits. Though both corporations share a White Plains office and staff, financial information for the USTA is not available from easily accessed public sources.

The U.S. Open is supported by CBS Sports, USA Networks, IBM, JP MorganChase, MassMutual, American Express, Continental Airlines, Heineken, Cannon, Pepsi and the New York Times , among others.