Ex-Forum Workers Speak Out

Sandy Sheeran
13 years at Forum, 6 in Pyrotechnics
"Of course the lock out hurts all of us who have worked at the Forum. It's one more venue in LA that's going non-union. Now we have to scramble elsewhere for work. Now that they've locked out all the experienced people, they're bringing in people who don't know rigging or electrical in the building. They could easily overload the electrical or the ceiling & make it collapse. The Forum's an old facility and there's a lot of tricks we've learned over the years for putting on a safe show."

Ray Porter
10 years at Forum, last 3 years as Video Head
"I'm a single dad and this lock out really hurts me financially. We turned down a lot of other potential work before the Madonna concert - we thought we were assured 7 weeks on Madonna's tour, including rehearsals. Now I'm just bouncing around trying to find work. All we want to do is go back to work at the Forum."

Matt Leone
6 years at Forum, general stagehand work
"I'm just trying to work. I'm just a regular working guy trying to support his family I have a 2-year old daughter. We're not driving fancy cars - we're not getting rich off this. I drive a Ford truck. No one's losing money at the Forum. It's not fair they're asking us to take a 35% pay cut for rehearsals and making record money on ticket sales. We just want our jobs back."

Tom Head
17 years at the Forum, Head Electrician, Head of House
Drives 78 miles to work each way. "The lock out is really hurting me big time. If we don't get a contract there, I'll have to retire. I just want my job back."

Jimmy McKinny
8 years at the Forum, rigging & general stagehand work
"This lock out has hurt a lot of people. It's hurt me financially. That was one of the places we'd work regularly. Madonna's show is a really big show. Installing it, taking it out, and working the show. We did some of the Madonna prep - working 14 hour days and we were paid 1/3 less. That really hurt. And then they locked us out."

Tom Smoker
5 years at the Forum, general stagehand work
"My father worked at the Forum. I worked at the Forum. And I want my son to work at the Forum. It's not right what they're doing here. They're asking us to work for less than the price of a tank of gas. They want to pay us the same wages they were paying us 25 years ago."