Broadway Actors and Musicians Prepare for a Strike; Negotiations Set to Continue Next Week

As BroadwayWorld reported earlier this month, the Broadway production contract has officially expired, leaving both Actors' Equity Association and Local 802 (Broadway musicians) in heated negotiations with the Broadway League for a fair working contract.

According to Deadline, following days of mediation, talks have come to a stand still and are set to resume on October 17. "We made some progress during our two days of mediation, but Equity and The Broadway League are still very far apart on some of our most pressing issues," Equity Executive Director Al Vincent Jr. told Deadline. "We will continue strike preparations in case we need to take that step."

Points of discussion, as outlined by Equity United, include safe staffing, humane scheduling, sustainable working conditions, and paying fair share of benefits. 

Local 802 President Bob Suttmann said, “Broadway musicians are speaking loud and clear: we will do whatever it takes to win a fair contract. Audiences deserve the magic of live Broadway, but the artists who make the magic happen must be paid fairly and must not have their jobs and benefits taken away from them. The Broadway League recently reported its most successful season ever and can fully afford to provide fair pay and benefits, without reducing jobs. The Broadway League needs to know that musicians are considering the power of a strike if necessary. Their strike authorization vote is their strength.”

Earlier this week, Congress signed a letter urging the League and the unions to come to an agreement to avoid a strike. 

If a stike occurs, this wouldn't be the first time that Broadway has shut down due to labor strikes. Jennifer Ashely Tepper touched on the subject in BroadwayWorld Deep Dive. She writes:

Actors Equity Strikes are one example of when Broadway has completely ground to a halt. Fighting for fair wages and treatment, Actors Equity has struck in 1919 (one month), 1960 (11 days), 1964 (1 day) and 1968 (3 days).

The Strike of 1919 was actually responsible for forming Actors Equity as we know it today. Prior to 1919, actors were treated horrifically; they were forced to add extra performances without compensation, pay for their own costumes, rehearse without salary, work without warning of unemployment, travel without any promise of fare home, and more. In fact, the high volume of actors who were stranded in cities far from home during the 1918 pandemic was one episode that led to the 1919 uprising. The stars of Broadway stood hand in hand with everyone who worked in the theatre, and after a month-long shut-down and lots of drama, Broadway reopened on different terms. (The Actors Equity Strike of 1919 is one of my favorite topics I wrote about in my book series The Untold Stories of Broadway-you can read a longer version of the story in volume 3.)