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November 21, 2004
Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) Broadway stagehands voted today to authorize a strike, setting up what may be the New York theater district's first labor disruption since March 2003, said a spokesman for the stagehands.
The League of American Theatres and Producers and Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees have been
negotiating a contract for about two months. Members of the union, known as IATSE, have worked without a contract for about three months, said Bruce Cohen, a union spokesman.
Today's vote gives the union's leadership the right to call a strike at any time. A spokeswoman for the producers' league didn't return an email or phone message left Sunday night.
Stagehands move scenery within a theater, run sound and light boards, and include carpenters and electricians. A strike would affect some 20
productions, including "Wonderful Town" starring Brooke Shields and Billy Crystal's one-man show, "700 Sundays."
Wages and health benefits are the main issues being discussed, said Cohen. He declined to comment on talks between the two sides, though he said the union seeks to match a separate agreement the Nederlander Organization reached with the union last month.
Nederlander, which owns nine theaters on Broadway, agreed to 3 percent annual wage increases and increased benefits.
"Under no circumstances would our members accept less from the league," Cohen said. "We can't have two classes of stagehands."
In July, Broadway actors and producers reached an agreement after months of on-and-off talks, averting a threatened strike.
A four-day strike by Broadway musicians in March 2003 cost New York's economy about $10 million, according to the city's tourism bureau. The
stagehands' union has set aside $1 million to compensate its members if they do strike.
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