After 33 days, Actors’ Equity has ended its limited strike against the Broadway League over how its members are compensated for developing new work.
Actors had sought profit share and a raise from the current $1,000 weekly salary when participating in a developmental lab, which are multi-week workshops to create new plays and musicals.
Equity has released generalities about the agreement between its national council and the League — the trade association that represents producers and theater owners.
The new pact includes a five-year term for salaries, with three increases over five years; profit sharing after a show recoups its initial investment; triggers that result in an additional assistant stage manager contract; a guarantee of five weeks of rehearsal for a Broadway musical and four weeks for a play; and health and pension benefits.
In calling the strike against developmental work, the union had said that it negotiated fruitlessly over nearly two years to replace its lab contract with the League.
Original cast members of The Book of Mormon, operating under an earlier contract, have collectively earned millions of dollars in profit helping to create that blockbuster. Hamilton actors, after hiring a lawyer and taking to social media, likewise secured a lucrative stake in their show.
With the end of the strike, Equity has removed the Broadway League from its DO NOT WORK list.
This post was updated.
