Broadway actors prepare to strike, union says

By Dawn Chmielewski (Reuters) -Broadway actors are preparing to walk off the stage in a strike that would shut down 32 stage productions as theater attendance approaches its peak season, according to their union. Actors' Equity, a union that represents 900 current Broadway performers and stage managers, said it has yet to reach agreement on a new labor contract with the Broadway League, the trade association that represents theater owners, producers and operators. Negotiations continue, though the three-year contract ended on September 28. A central issue in bargaining is healthcare and the contribution the Broadway League makes to the union's health care fund. Al Vincent Jr, executive director and lead negotiator for Actors' Equity, said the union is asking Broadway's employers to increase their contribution to the health care fund, which is projected to fall into a deficit by next May.  The rate of contributions has been unchanged for more than a decade, even as smaller regional theaters in Kansas and Idaho oftentimes pay more, Vincent said.  "Asking our employers to care for our bodies, and to pay their fair share toward our health insurance is not only reasonable and necessary, it’s an investment they should want to make toward the long-term success of their businesses," Actors' Equity President Brooke Shields said in a statement to Reuters, adding that she tore her meniscus on a Broadway show and continued dancing on it, "painfully," for three months. "That’s just math. There are no Broadway shows without healthy Broadway actors and stage managers. And there are no healthy actors and stage managers without safe workplaces and stable health insurance.” The Broadway League issued a statement saying it continues to work toward an agreement.  “We all want to sustain the magic of Broadway for our audience," the Broadway League said in its statement to Reuters. "We are continuing good-faith negotiations with Actors Equity to reach a fair agreement that works for Broadway shows, casts, crews and the millions of people from around the world who come to experience Broadway.” Other sectors of the entertainment industry have been roiled by labor unrest, with Hollywood actors and writers striking in 2023, as they fought for better compensation in the streaming TV era and curbs on the use of artificial intelligence. Video game actors staged a nearly year-long walkout as they sought protections against the use of artificial intelligence.     Stage actors have already authorized the bargaining committee to call a strike. On Friday, the union began delivering "strike pledge cards" to the stage door, asking performers and stage managers to commit to a walkout.   Kaylin Seckel, an ensemble cast member of Disney's "The Lion King" and understudy to Nala and Sarabi, said she ruptured her Achilles tendon during a 2022 performance and had to be carried off-stage by her scene partner. She underwent surgery to repair the injury, and lengthy physical therapy to help her return to the stage.  Although workers' compensation covered many of her medical expenses, she relied on her union's health care to pay for acupuncture and other treatments.  "That was three years ago, and I require, to this day, other procedures and more physical therapy that I was denied under workers' comp," said Seckel. "So for performers and stage managers in this industry, where your jobs are dangerous, … without really good health insurance, it's difficult for us to do our jobs." The last major Actors Equity strike was in 1968, when a three-day dispute closed 19 Broadway shows. The New York City mayor intervened, and helped both sides come to an agreement.  (Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Mary Milliken and Stephen Coates)

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