It’s a little dizzying to hear Nicolás Potere describe the high-flying work he does. A concert rigging professional of 12 years, he knows a lot about cables, anchors and safety lines, and their safest configurations. He knows the quirks of Bridgestone Arena, with its unlevel beams, as well as the tricks to set up stages at older venues around town. The cables and beams hold up speakers, lights and even stages, and should any of them give way — falling dozens or even hundreds of feet from the ceiling — there could be injuries or even death.
Potere says safety was one of the driving issues behind a recent push to unionize Nashville’s riggers, centering on stagehands who work primarily with Rhino Staging, one of the biggest names in the concert scene at the moment. Potere says there has been good momentum collecting signatures for union authorization cards. If 30 percent of workers sign cards showing interest in forming a union, the National Labor Relations Board will call for a vote. If workers vote in favor of the union, the NLRB will recognize it. Potere estimates that about 56 percent of Nashville concert riggers have signed cards — about 30 people in the close-knit community. (Potere also showed photos of signed cards to the Scene.)
Potere had hoped Rhino would voluntarily recognize the union — a simpler and quicker process when the majority signs authorization cards — especially since the company had already lost a battle against unionizing workers in Oregon. Potere says Rhino instead has been spreading misinformation about whether salaried workers can unionize. (Some riggers have W-2s, even though stagehand work can be a freelance endeavor.) He also says some early supporters of the union have been peeled away by the efforts.
However, two competing cases are now sitting in front of the NLRB: one from Rhino and one from the Appalachian Concert Riggers Union Local No. 615. Rhino is accusing the ACRU of coercion, and the budding union responded by accusing the staging company of unfair labor practices, including coercive actions of its own.
Potere says he is listed in the charge filed by Rhino and plans to represent himself. The charge from Rhino seems to stem from a heated confrontation between Potere and another worker. Potere has not been scheduled for work with Rhino and believes his dismissal was an attempt to disrupt organizing.
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While legal proceedings can result in a judge requiring employers to bargain with the union, Potere says he would rather avoid a delay in recognition.
The sense of urgency, again, is all about safety. In Orlando, Fla., around Halloween, a stagehand died setting up a concert. Potere also described a concert at Bridgestone Arena earlier this year that showed signs of faulty rigging. Potere declined to name the show, but shared footage with the Scene showing an elevated stage, held aloft by cables, dropping one corner by a foot or two. Fortunately it held together, and the performers didn’t seem to notice.
Crowe Selena, an ACRU officer, says part of the slipping safety standards is due to an influx of new workers with little training or experience following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Selena, who has worked in the industry for 10 years, says she had a brush with serious injury herself fixing inexperienced stagehands’ mistakes — errors that could have resulted in a stage collapsing.
Potere says one goal would be for the union to establish its own training facility as well as the common-practice ranks of apprentice and journeyman. Potere says that while Rhino offers safety training, some of the methods taught are incorrect or not up to the standard he and experienced stagehands would expect. While the union is targeting Rhino employees, the hope is that these standards apply citywide, no matter what company is in town — noting that Rhino is just the most recent big player in town.
“The joke is that the T-shirt changes but the riggers that are going up on the roof stays the same,” says Potere. “The grid stays the same.”
The Scene reached out to Rhino Staging Tennessee and its lawyer for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication. Potere says the next meeting for the ACRU will be Dec. 7.
