Actors' Equity is Considering A Limited Strike If Developmental Lab Agreement is Not Reached

As BroadwayWorld has previously reported, the Broadway community is taking a stand with Actors' Equity in the "Not a Lab Rat" campaign, to increase the minimum salary for developmental labs, as well as get profit sharing for lab participants.

Now, new details are emerging according to The New York Times.

Actors' Equity and the Broadway League have been disputing the issue, but Equity says they have reached an impasse. Equity is considering a limited strike, in which members would not participate in any developmental work with commercial producers.

However, The Broadway League says that the two sides are still discussing the issue, and they hope a deal can be reached.

"Negotiations have been going on for some time, with lots of back and forth, and we have additional proposals we're trying to make," the League's president, Charlotte St. Martin, said. "We believe there will be a deal that will be beneficial for both sides."

Equity estimates that about a quarter of new Broadway shows have utilized labs in recent years, most recently Lempicka and Jagged Little Pill.

The union is asking that the new agreement include a pay raise for lab participants, as well as 1% of any potential profits be shared among them.

"We are collaborators, and we need to be acknowledged for what we're doing," said Stephen Bogardus, an actor who serves as chairman of the union's show development subcommittee. "We're putting in more skin than we once did, and after recoupment we think it's fair that we should be able to share in the success of the show."

Read more on The New York Times.

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