Actors’ Equity members have voted to approve a new production contract with the Broadway League, the actors’ union said Wednesday.
The two groups had reached a tentative agreement on the contract in September, but an Equity membership vote was needed to finalize it. The new contract, which is effective immediately, includes increases to weekly salaries as well as additional protection for stage managers and swings.
The agreement, which covers Broadway and some touring productions, was ratified with 95% of members voting to approve it.
As previously reported, the contract includes 3.5% annual increases to minimum weekly salaries for Equity members, as well as increases to 401(k) contributions. It states that swings cannot be assigned to cover more than 10 ensemble tracks and that a temporary assistant stage manager will be assigned to work on large musicals that open cold on Broadway from pre-production through opening.
The contract also includes a written “commitment” that the League and Equity will negotiate a touring agreement to replace the short-engagement touring agreement as well as the national tour and tiered tour provisions in the production agreement.
“This negotiation resulted in not only great compensation increases for our members but created new terms and conditions that provide further protections for stage managers and swings,” Mary McColl, executive director of Actors’ Equity Association, said in the press release.
Last February, Equity negotiated a new contract with the Broadway League for developmental work. That contract, which came about after Equity staged a 33-day strike that prohibited members from participating in developmental projects, includes a share in 1 percent of the profits for actors and stage managers who take part in a show’s development.
Equity renewed its short engagement touring contract with the Broadway League in May.
