Broadway musicians have overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike.
The union that represents musicians, American Federation of Musicians Native 802, is at the moment engaged on a brand new contract with the Broadway League after the earlier contract expired on August 31.
The union membership of Native 802 voted overwhelmingly in favor of strike, with 98% supporting the motion as of Sunday night. That vote doesn’t mechanically set off a strike, however readies the union physique within the occasion negotiations break down.
The union president says the league desires to chop jobs, wages and medical insurance advantages.
“On the heels of the most profitable season in historical past, the Broadway League desires the working musicians and artists who fueled that very success to simply accept wage cuts, threats to healthcare advantages, and potential job losses,” President Bob Suttmann stated in an announcement.
“Confronted with such an egregious erosion of their working circumstances, Native 802 Broadway musicians and different artists are able to leverage each ounce of their collective energy, as much as and together with a strike.”
The union says negotiations will proceed over the approaching days and weeks. A possible strike would impression each manufacturing on Broadway that makes use of musicians (besides Ragtime—which is below a special contract with Lincoln Heart).
In an announcement offered to NBC New York on Tuesday, the Broadway League confirmed the group was dedicated to reaching a contract settlement with the union.
“Good-faith negotiations occur on the bargaining desk, not within the press. We worth our musicians and we’re dedicated to working in good religion to get a good contract achieved,” their assertion learn.
In an interview printed final month, the league’s president informed the New York Occasions that rising labor and manufacturing prices have made it arduous for productions to interrupt even, regardless of skyrocketing ticket gross sales.
Broadway hasn’t been on strike since 2007, when stagehands introduced the theater district to a halt for nearly three weeks.
With excessive manufacturing coasts and theatergoers feeling the pinch of inflation, new Broadway musicals are struggling to make a revenue. NBC’s Ellison Barber reviews.
