There will be no picketing outside the Tailgate and Tallboys music festival after all.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees [IATSE] released a statement late Friday that it had reached what it called an "amicable" agreement with event organizer USA Concerts and Events regarding the company’s hiring of stagehands for the annual concert festival scheduled for June 12-15 at the McLean County Fairgrounds in Bloomington.
The union previously accused the organizer of violating its contract with IATSE and refusing to hire local stagehands, which the union argued created additional safety hazards.
A union representative raised with the issue with the Normal Town Council earlier this week. Mayor Chris Koos later told WGLT it had no role role to intervene in the dispute because it was a private event being held on private property.
USA Concerts and Events is also hosting Tailgates and Tallboys this weekend in Clinton, Iowa, which had also been the subject of complaints from the union.
“All planned picketing and handbilling actions by Locals 85 [Clinton, Iowa] and 193 [Bloomington] have been officially called off,” the union said in a statement.
IASTE did not provide details of the agreement.
