Show-stopping Broadway strike continues

NEW YORK, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- There were no signs of a settlement on the second day of the Broadway stagehands' strike in New York that has caused the cancellation of several performances.

At news conferences Saturday and Sunday, the stagehands' union and the League of American Theaters and Producers accused each other of being inflexible and causing the strike, The New York Times reported.

At the league's news conference on Saturday, members said union rules require them to keep workers on the job, even when there isn't enough work for them, a practice called "featherbedding."

Union President James Claffey, Jr. said theater owners were insulting his members by using words like "featherbedding." He also rejected an offer of mediation from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, Broadway's theaters remained silent as the actors and musicians unions refused to cross the picket line, some even joining the stagehands outside, including celebrities like David Hyde Pierce, who is starring in "Curtains."