Actors' Equity and Broadway League Agree on Contract Terms

Actors' Equity Association, the national union of stage actors and stage managers, and the Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway and touring industry, have successfully reached a new 39-month tentative agreement for their Production Contract. The agreement outlines the terms and conditions of employment for actors and stage managers working in commercial productions, both on Broadway and on tour. Disney Theatrical Productions Inc. was also a bargaining partner in the agreement.

The hassle-free negotiation is the opposite of the one in fall 2007, which resulted in a 19-day strike that darkened most Broadway productions. Once ratified by all parties, the new contract will be retroactive from June 30, 2008, and will run through September 2011.

The terms of the agreement include an increase of more than 11¼% in the overall compensation package over the life of the contract; more flexibility in publicity and promotion, allowing producers to pursue new avenues of marketing shows through digital and traditional means, while providing actors a monetary acknowledgement of their participation and rights; and an unspecified revised touring arrangement that seeks to promote more League productions providing more employment for Equity members.

"In two months of tough bargaining, we achieved an excellent contract with significant gains for every Equity member working on Broadway and the road," Equity's executive director John P. Connolly said in a statement. "Together, actors and producers worked tirelessly to craft an agreement that grows our business and takes care of our community and our audiences."

Charlotte St, Martin, executive director of the Broadway League, said, "The collaborative spirit that prevailed throughout the talks allowed both sides to present their issues, understand the others' concerns and negotiate a new contract that serves the industry and the theater-going public."

The Broadway League is the national trade association for the Broadway industry. The 600-plus members include theatre owners and operators, producers, presenters, and general managers in North American cities, as well as suppliers of goods and services to the commercial theater industry. Equity represents more than 47,000 stage actors and stage managers in the United States.