Stagehands, Producers To Talk This Weekend

Talks are scheduled for this weekend between the Broadway stagehands union, Local One, and the League of American Theaters and Producers, five days after the union went on strike and all but eight Broadway theaters went dark.

The announcement came yesterday afternoon in a joint statement from spokesmen for the union and the league, who said they would not disclose where and when the talks would take place. Mayor Bloomberg called the announcement a "very important step forward."

"I spoke with both sides again today and reiterated that we will provide any help we can to help resolve these disagreements and let the shows go on," he said in a statement.

While the league has said it is interested in working with the city to negotiate, the union has declined such offers in the past.

At issue is whether a theater should hire a set number of stagehands daily, as the union argues, or whether the stagehands should be paid only for the work they physically do.