In a recent NLRB Election in Houston, TX, the employees of the Ensemble Theater voted in favor of union representation. They chose International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes to represent them, in an election that still has some challenges to be cleared. The Ensemble Theatre is known as the single largest African American Theatre Company in the southern United States and is compared professionally to the Apollo Theater of Harlem fame. The unit includes the full spectrum of duties that pertain to the Legitimate Theater, as this being a brand new result of President Short’s organizational campaign of National LORT Theater; jurisdictional guidelines have yet to be established. Shawn Hauptmann of Local 51 Houston, TX and Jim Hicks, the Local’s attorney were instrumental in the organizational effort.
