PHILADELPHIA—“It’s very disheartening,” said a World Cafe Live worker, that the management of the venue is working in the “very opposite direction that everybody wants it to go. But it doesn’t seem to matter because he has all the money.”
World Café Live, a nonprofit, independent music venue here featuring current music and community events, has been a major presence in the city for more than 18 years
Joe Callahan, the CEO who has workers concerned about unfair practices, replaced Hal Real as CEO just three months before a July 3 walkout by workers. Since Callahan took over, many workers reported drastic changes to the workplace conditions and programming of the venue, including late paychecks, a decline in the quality of programming, and “lack of respect coming from the management,” as one worker put it when speaking to People’s World.
Fed up with these negative changes, some workers organized a walkout, demanding that Callahan meet with them to discuss the direction of the venue and their grievances. When those organizers walked out, others followed.
Luke Hollinger, a WCL worker and organizer, told People’s World, “pretty much everybody under Joe Callahan walked out on that strike, like, managers and the booking people and all the higher-ups just kind of walked out in protest of what was going on.” The broad support for the walkout represents the outrage and distaste workers have for Callahan’s management. The worker noted that it was “in a way, very validating,” showing the broad support for change in the workplace.
When workers were finally able to meet with Callahan, along with other WCL management leaders, they were left with more questions than answers and even more frustration. Callahan’s idea of bringing AI entertainment to the venue did not go over well with staff.
“One of the plans was to start selling tickets to kind of immersive VR experiences in the venue, like AI-powered VR headset experiences…one of the proposals for the VR immersive experience was to do this, Irish potato famine tour,” said Hollinger. “I’ve not spoken to a single person who is in favor of what he’s doing, like, he’s still doing it just because he has money.”
Callahan does indeed come from the AI and tech world. In addition to now being the CEO of WCL, he’s also the CEO of a company called Sansar, whose mission is to “empower creators to build amazing virtual experiences that bring the world together,” according to their website.
Both staff and community members view the move towards AI and “virtual experiences” as a deviation from the venue’s historical mission–to support the arts in Philly and Philadelphia-based artists.
Despite these hardships, their organizing didn’t stop at a walkout out however. WCL staff have also filed for union recognition. Production staff organizing with IATSE Local 8 and front of house staff organizing with Unite Here Local 2174 were voluntarily recognized by leadership, a show of the power that collective action can have on management.
In a recent July 10 town hall, which ironically was advertised as being available via virtual reality but experienced technical issues throughout the entirety of the meeting, Callahan addressed angry musicians, performers, and community members who claim their trust must be earned. “I just need you to understand the importance as a business to win back our trust,” said Carsie Blanton, a musician who sold out WCL on multiple occasions. Callahan’s response once again missed the mark. “There is no one in this room who appreciates live music more than I do,” he said to the room full of experienced musicians.
Although the townhall, just like the staff meeting, left many still feeling frustrated, there is hope in the future contract negotiations between Callahan and his posse and the new workers’ unions IATSE and Unite Here.
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