[I would love it if Production Managers or Administrations knew the AEA rules but I've yet to work at a theatre where the PM knew as much about the Rules as I did. Be it LORT, SPT, Off-Broadway, or whatever, I've always had to explain rules to companies. Rules that I thought were pretty standard. Then again, I don't always know all of the rules either and anyone that's capable of memorizing the AEA Rulebooks completely must have a photographic memory. I applaud such people. But in the end, I think PMs, Directors, and Producers rely on the Stage Manager for rule explanations and interpretations 9 times out of 10.
In my vision of a perfect world, all Production Managers would have been Equity Stage Managers.
I'm not really sure what qualifies someone to
be a production manager if they don't have stage management experience.
On the last commercial show I production managed, I easily knew the Off Broadway rules, as well as their implications and limits, much better than the PSM (and wouldn't have it any other way
For the record, I'm pretty much against straight sixes. I find there is a much more productive rehearsal when the actors have a chance to recharge their energy and I have a chance to "advance" the rehearsal room.
(On most of the freelance stagehand/tech gigs I work, most of us charge a meal penalty if we work more than the first 5 hours without a meal break.)
P.S. Sit on one of the comittees working on porposals for negotiations and you will find yourself inadvertetnly memorizing much more of the rule-book than you would think.