(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – For the first time since the 1970s, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 10 has bargained an agreement with the Buffalo Convention Center that secures the jurisdiction of the work performed there by its local Membership, IATSE Officials tell WNYLaborToday.com.

The agreement features “exclusivity language” and a 4% raise for Local 10’s Membership who work on a variety of events at the Convention Center, which now places the Union Workers at a “top tier wage,” Union Officials said.

“The building is now ‘locked down,’” Local 10 Business Agent Josh Moberly told WNYLaborToday.com. “‘We’ve been on this for seven years now’ after working on year-by-year agreements. It ‘guarantees us all the work under our jurisdiction and leaves out other work performed by other Unions’ (including the Service Employees International Union). ‘Now we will be able to move forward and negotiate a full’ (and multi-year) contract.”

The last time Local 10 has the Buffalo Convention Center "locked down," Moberly said, "was in the (1970s).

In a weekend posting its Facebook Page, Local 10 described the agreement as “historic” and thanked several Elected Officials - including Erie County Executive Mark Polancarz, Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick and New York State Assemblyman Jon Rivera, for standing with the Union and pledging “their full support throughout this effort.”

Local 10 also thanked IATSE International President Matthew Loeb and International Representative Brian Monroe for their involvement, as well as IATSE District 10 President Paul Dean, Jr. and District 10’s Executive Board “for standing with Local 10 and giving us their full support throughout this effort.”

In addition, the Union also thanked Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation (WNYALF) President Denise Abbott for her involvement, adding: “Denise brough the strength and voice of the Western New York Labor Movement to our cause and her involvement was instrumental in bringing this effort to a successful conclusion.”

Moberly gave a tip of the hat to Convention Center Vice President and General Manager Jeff Calkins, saying: “‘While both sides have differences, it’s the true measure of a man when you shake each other’s hand and move on to the next step.’”

Moberly told WNYLaborToday.com the agreement, which runs until the end of the year, will provide the Union the time to begin negotiations with the Convention Center on a new and elongated contract.

The agreement opens up a much larger share of the work at the Convention Center for Local 10’s Membership, which will now perform “more of the technical work,” he added.

This will also allow the Local to not only pursue contracts at a number of other venues across the Buffalo area, but to organize local Non-Union Stagehands.

Local 10 has around 200 Members - but also draws on “several hundred others as the need arises,” Union President Don Gervasi tells WNYLaborToday.com.

Recently, the Local had 300 Stagehands working during three major events held at Buffalo’s Outer Harbor, the KeyBank Center in Downtown Buffalo and out at the Darien Lake Arts Center Concert Venue, he said.

“This (agreement with the Buffalo Convention Center) ‘is definitely a win for our Local,’” Gervasi said. “It’s ‘nice to have this agreement there and it was at the forefront of our list.’ ‘I’m cautiously optimistic’ (about securing a new contract there in the beginning of 2027).”