Actors’ Equity and the Broadway League reached a new, three-year collective bargaining agreement for Broadway shows and sit-down production, the two parties said Thursday.
The details of the agreement have not yet been released and still remain subject to ratification by a subset of Equity members who have recently worked on these contracts. The ratification is expected to take place on Dec. 19.
Actors’ Equity and the Broadway League have been negotiating the contract, which is now expired, since September. Touring productions, which had been included in this contract in the the past, were not included in the discussion, as they are being spun off into a new contract.
The union for actors and stage managers had been vocal throughout the negotiations. On Nov. 17, Actors’ Equity held a rally in Times Square in which members campaigned for more coverage on Broadway shows, in terms of the number of understudies and greater compensation for those understudies and swings, as well as provisions such as greater paid sick leave. Members also spoke up about better scheduling, including a reduction in back-to-back shows around the holidays and limits on 10 out of 12 technical rehearsals (a practice that occurs the week before opening in which actors and stage managers are scheduled for 10 hours of work and two hours of break time in a day). The results of those asks are not yet known.
“The Broadway League is engaged in good faith negotiations with Actors’ Equity Association and want to underscore that we value all of their members, including understudies, swings and stage managers for the work they do in bringing our productions to life,” the Broadway League said at the time.