Broadway Casting Directors Struggle in Push for Unionization

Getting past a casting director can be the key to starting a successful career on Broadway, and can make or break the success of a show. But these highly specialized and influential individuals are some of the least protected workers on Broadway. In a feature by the New York Daily News, a number of New York's biggest names in casting revealed the importance of their push for union protection and the struggles they face without it.

Long and often unpaid hours of work are common in the performing arts lifestyle, but casting professionals find themselves worrying about retirement and health care in a way that seriously impacts their sense of job and personal security.

For Tara Rubin (Dear Evan Hansen, A Bronx Tale), she wants to look to the future generations and guarantee that those up and coming will be protected "I'm worried mostly about the next generation of casting directors...I'd like to leave a legacy for those coming up now - I'd like for them to have a viable career path."

Broadway casting directors have already begun to work towards unionization by joining forces with Teamsters Local 817, an organization that protects primarily film and TV casting professionals. In a previously released statement, Teamster Local 817 said "As we all know, the casting community is an integral part of the success of Broadway and as such they deserve the same rights and benefits as casting directors throughout the entertainment industry and as virtually every other person employed on Broadway. Local 817 is committed to the struggle for Fairness for Broadway Casting Directors"

Teamsters Local 817 contacted the Broadway League to push for a Broadway casting union but the League declined, claiming that "casting companies are engaged as independent contractors; they are separate businesses."

The Broadway League is making plans to take its argument to the National Labor Relations Board. Bernie Telsey says this is an unnecessary step, but reveals no intention to stop pushing for unionization. "We're really not asking for much - this is a $13 billion industry, and what would it cost for 40 people to receive the health insurance and other benefits that every other member on Broadway gets?"

To read more, visit New York Daily News here.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos