IATSE and the Broadway League Reach Tentative Agreement on Pink Contract

Caitlin Huston
·2 min read
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The Broadway League and IATSE said Thursday they have reached a tentative agreement on the pink contract, after the theater crew union had warned that it was conducting a strike authorization vote and could strike as soon as Friday.

The agreement is still pending ratification from IATSE members, which is expected to take about two weeks. The pink contract covers about 1,500 IATSE members who work across 45 theatrical shows, with 28 productions on Broadway and 17 on tour.

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IATSE announced Wednesday that it was conducting a strike authorization vote on Wednesday and Thursday only, after talks had previously been at a standstill.

A strike from the pink contracts likely would shut down Broadway and touring productions, as other unions joined in solidarity. The musician’s union, Local 802 AFM, had sent out a notice to members on Wednesday telling them to remove their belongings from Broadway theaters in case a strike were to occur. Those members would not have crossed picket lines, said Tino Gagliardi, President-Elect of AFM.

“Our members’ health and safety would be at risk without professional stagecraft personnel on the job, and we would have been on the picket line with them in solidarity,” Gagliardi said.

The pink contract personnel are employed directly by the production and often work on the show from out-of-town tryouts in other cities and then on Broadway, or follow a show on its tour. They work alongside local union stagehands who are employed by theater owners and covered under IATSE Local One in New York.

The two parties have been negotiating the agreement since May 25. The previous contract had been in effect from July 1, 2019 through July 2, 2023. The crew union previously said progress had been made on maintaining employer-provided health care, without making cuts to plans or increasing out-of-pocket costs, as well as gaining employer-provided housing for touring crews, in a first for the pink contract workers. However, there were still sticking points around increased wages on Broadway and setting weekly and daily rest periods.

In April, Actors’ Equity had also issued a strike authorization vote for its touring contract with the Broadway League and received sign off from members. The union reached an agreement with the league and members ratified the contract later that same month.

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