The outrageous demands of unionized stagehands forced Carnegie Hall to cancel a performance last week. As the Wall Street Journal reports, this kind of union power is a very real threat to the classical music industry.

Local One has established its prerogatives through a closed network, where a select few members benefit and the rank and file are scared to protest for fear of retaliation. Chapter President Claffey is the son of a Local One member and has counted five brothers in the union. The leadership is predominantly white and male, and of the union’s 3,000 members, little more than 100 are women. Thanks to a tiered salary structure and a union-controlled promotion system, not all of the members benefit from the big payouts. One anonymous blogger who has identified himself as a rank-and-file member has railed against what he calls the union’s system of preferment: “2500 victims plus the 350 to 500 plus relatives and loop boys.”

What a shame.