Calgary’s Stagehands Union Began With 18 Names in 1911

Eighteen names. That is all it took to start the crew that has kept Calgary’s stages lit for more than a century.

The charter of IATSE Local 212, the Calgary stagehands’ local, is dated July 15, 1911, according to IATSE Local 212’s own history page. The city those eighteen people worked in was growing fast.

Calgary’s first stagehands

The local says many charter members were immigrants looking for better prospects, and that they worked the theatres strung along 8th Avenue: the Lyric, the Empire, the Majestic and the Grand.

One charter member, Charlie Hicklin, is recorded as working 72 hours a week for about $600 a year. The local puts that at less than $20,000 in today’s money. That is a long week for a small cheque.

One family, five generations

Our favourite detail is the Merrells family. The local says H.G. Merrells started in 1921 at the Sherman Grand Theatre, and that the family went on to supply five generations of Local 212 workers. A family line like that is proof stagehand work runs on who you know.

Another name worth knowing is James Silcock. The local says he sat on the Executive Board for 67 years, mostly as President. Think about that next time your own committee meeting drags.

The early years

The history page notes that at least five charter members served in WWI. It singles out Joseph Phelps, a soldier with the Canadian Mounted Rifles, who died in combat on March 27, 1917, at age 23.

Membership averaged between 25 and 40 through the 1930s and 1940s, a tiny crew keeping Calgary’s stages running. The Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium opened in April 1957 and, the local says, became central to its operations.

Film and television arrive

Southern Alberta’s screen work is part of the story from the 1950s on. The local names River of No Return, from 1953, and Little Big Man, from 1969. The 1988 Winter Olympics, it says, showed what the local could do at scale.

By its own count, Calgary productions have collected 48 Academy Award nominations and 14 wins, plus 92 Emmy nominations and 22 wins. Those are the local’s figures, and they are generous, so enjoy the pride talking.

Still organizing today

Yes. A notice on IATSE’s national news page reports that on October 21, 2021, 80% of Stampede workers who build, tear down and run events on the grounds voted for certification with Local 212. The Stampede had withdrawn voluntary recognition in 2020, which led to the application. President Damian Petti is quoted describing a working relationship with the Stampede that spans almost 100 years.

An earlier certification is on record too. An IATSE Canada notice says the Alberta Labour Relations Board granted Local 212 bargaining rights for Theatre Junction Society employees on April 27, 2007, at the Grand, which the notice says was built in 1912 and is the oldest theatre in Western Canada.

Why this history is worth your time

Most Calgary theatre histories start with the building or the star. This one starts with the people who hung the lights and shifted the scenery for 72 hours a week.

If you only read one union page this year, make it Local 212’s. Then go notice who is working the crew at the next show you see.

If this one hooked you, try Alberta Theatre Projects Began in a 74-Year-Old Log Hall, then Six rooms, four names and one very busy arts centre. Or try Betty Mitchell, the botanist who built Calgary theatre for a change of pace.

If this one hooked you, we think The Women Who Kept Lougheed House Alive After 1938 and Theatresports Was Born in Calgary, and Keith Johnstone Did It are a good next read.

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