Stagehands Could Alter Broadway Tune
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The aftermath of the Broadway stagehands’ strike, which stretched for 19 days during what is historically one of the most lucrative times for the industry before ending late Wednesday night, could have lasting effects on how future contract negotiations play out and how the League of American Theaters and Producers views the Broadway unions.
“Everyone knows Local One is the pacesetter of the industry, so if the stagehands get a 50% increase, every other union is going to come in and say, ‘We want our 50%,'” a spokesman for the stagehands union, Local One, Bruce Cohen, said. The actual details of the union’s tentative contract were not made public.
During the stagehands’ strike, the solidarity of the actors and musicians was evident. Many joined stagehands on the picket line, and late on Wednesday night they gathered by the dozens in Times Square once the union and the league were ready to announce that a deal had been reached.
“We stand shoulder to shoulder with each other with each of our negotiations and conflicts,” a spokeswoman for the Actors’ Equity Association, Maria Somma, who was present Wednesday night, said.
“We knew then as we know now that all of the unions were solid with each other,” she added. “I think we made that quite clear to the producers that if one union is harmed, then all of the unions feel solidarity.”
In June, the Actors’ Equity Association contract will expire, and Ms. Somma said the union is already querying its members to root out concerns with the current contract in order to prepare for negotiations and avoid another work stoppage.
A member of the musicians’ union was on the negotiating team when the musicians struck in 2003, Augustino Gagliardi, picketed outside three shows that continued running during the stagehands’ strike, “Curtains,” “Spamalot,” and “Legally Blonde.”
“We look to this as a very important issue for us because we lost so much and it was a disappointing outcome to our strike,” Mr. Gagliardi, a member of the American Federation of Musicians Local 802, said. “It’s become more important to stick together to maintain the standards and quality of live Broadway theater.”
