Today the Crocodile’s security employees announced the creation of a new workers’ organization, Crocodile Solidarity Collective (aka Croc Solid). This move comes on the heels of Comedy Tent buying the entertainment venue.
In a press release, Croc Solid laid out its goals.
Following productive meetings with the new ownership team, Croc security staff are united to secure safe working conditions and fair pay. When venue workers are safe, the shows they help to put on and the patrons who travel from around the world to see them are safe too. The Crocodile is a beacon of culture and community in a city and a world where art is being commoditized and stripped of its value. Our commitment to providing artists and patrons a safe place to enjoy art is Croc Solid. Management must now make an equally solid commitment to its workers.
The formation of Croc Solid follows similar efforts at the Seattle club Neumos and at other venues nationwide.
A CSC organizer outlined the security’s safety concerns in an email to The Stranger: Obscured/broken venue doors; understaffing; lack of provided uniforms; lack of hazard pay; unstandardized training procedures, including lack of conflict de-escalation, first aid, and emergency training and drills; failure to consistently address recurring problem patrons, including those who have assaulted staff.
Speaking on behalf of new owners Comedy Tent, managing director Chris Copen responded, “I’ve been pretty clear in all of the conversations I’ve had that I want to hear from everybody who can tell us what worked in the past and what didn’t, what they feel needs to change.
“The Instagram post was the first that we saw of this. No one’s contacted us to say specifically what they’d like us to reply to. We’ve already had a ton of conversations with the full staff, as they acknowledged in their post. Those conversations have been super productive and we have a lot more scheduled. We’re kind of in a learning period. Anybody on staff who wants to contribute to that, I’m all ears.
“I know that the receivership process was very taxing for everybody associated with this, so I’m sympathetic to frustration building up through that. It was a long and very unsure process. I’m hopeful now that it’s over we can have a productive relationship with everybody. If this did come from a place of anger, I can see where that can happen, because it’s been a long six months of not even knowing if this place is even going to exist in a month.”
You can follow Croc Solid’s developments on Instagram @crocsolidaritycollective.
