Broadway musicians have overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike.
The union that represents musicians, American Federation of Musicians Local 802, is currently working on a new contract with the Broadway League after the previous contract expired on August 31.
The union membership of Local 802 voted overwhelmingly in favor of strike, with 98% supporting the action as of Sunday evening. That vote does not automatically trigger a strike, but readies the union body in the event negotiations break down.
The union president says the league wants to cut jobs, wages and health insurance benefits.
“On the heels of the most successful season in history, the Broadway League wants the working musicians and artists who fueled that very success to accept wage cuts, threats to healthcare benefits, and potential job losses,” President Bob Suttmann said in a statement.
“Faced with such an egregious erosion of their working conditions, Local 802 Broadway musicians and other artists are ready to leverage every ounce of their collective power, up to and including a strike.”
The union says negotiations will continue over the coming days and weeks. A potential strike would impact every production on Broadway that uses musicians (except Ragtime—which is under a different contract with Lincoln Center).
In a statement provided to NBC New York on Tuesday, the Broadway League confirmed the organization was committed to reaching a contract agreement with the union.
“Good-faith negotiations happen at the bargaining table, not in the press. We value our musicians and we are committed to working in good faith to get a fair contract done,” their statement read.
In an interview published last month, the league’s president told the New York Times that rising labor and production costs have made it hard for productions to break even, despite skyrocketing ticket sales.
Broadway hasn’t been on strike since 2007, when stagehands brought the theater district to a halt for almost three weeks.
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