“We are seeking an agreement that addresses the health of the industry. The Union's final proposal explicitly moves in the opposite direction, adding indefensible costs that would hurt all Broadway -- plays, in particular.
“The Union's final proposal, for example, insists on a flyman on all productions, even when there are no fly cues, and requires more people than necessary on load-ins. It demands that producers hire and pay for workers they don't need, and who have no work to perform. No industry can thrive with such wasteful and inflexible work rules. Eighty percent of all shows are financial failures. We have offered fair exchanges, including increased wages, to get rid of these backbreaking regulations.
“The Union’s proposal insists on retaining egregious contract features. These arcane rules add punishing costs to a production. In the case of a flyman, the cost is $162,733 per year, even if the task is not needed. Were the League to accept the final offer dictated by Local One, the Local One labor costs for new plays and musicals would rise by 30% for new musicals and 44% for new plays, over the life of the contract.
“The League’s final offer includes a 16% wage increase over five years; a separate one-time 10% wage increase for the period when shows are loaded in (25 % increase over the life of the contract), above and beyond their yearly wage increase; an additional increase for the lowest paid stagehands; a new sick pay provision; and more than a dozen other contract improvements sought by the Union. The offer insures that Broadway stagehands will continue to be the most highly paid in the theatre world. It is a compromise that preserves many contract provisions Local One sought to protect, but at the same time liberalizes some archaic work rules so that they begin to reflect those present in most modern workplaces.
We hope that the Union will consider providing a serious response to our proposal.”
Charlotte St. Martin
Executive Director
League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc.
