Calay News
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), which represents 1,500 stagehands and other backstage workers, had begun the process of voting to go on strike. However, the union reached an agreement with Disney Theatrical and the Broadway League, the trade group that represents theater owners and producers, as both parties announced in a joint statement.
Although the agreement has prevented the strike, it still needs to be ratified by the IATSE rank and file and will be presented to members in the coming days, union spokesman Jonas Loeb said. The decision to vote to go for a cessation of activities had been taken after IATSE authorized the measure last Wednesday.
Media outlets in the United States reported that had the strike occurred, it would have brought New York’s famed theater district to a standstill as of Friday, hitting the city’s economy hard, which is only just recovering from the effects of the pandemic, especially during the summer tourist season.
Had the strike gone ahead, they would have closed 28 shows in the Big Apple and another 17 that are currently on tour in the United States and Canada.
This threatened strike comes on top of the entertainment industry’s first walkout in 63 years, which has shut down Hollywood, significantly affecting the film and television business. Around 160,000 actors joined the strike last week after negotiations to reach an agreement with the production studios ended without success. In addition, several thousand screenwriters have been on strike for weeks.
Broadway’s 2022–2023 season posted $1.6 billion in revenue and more than 12.3 million tickets sold through May, according to the Broadway League.
