Proskauer Negotiations End Broadway Stagehand Strike

Posted by Eriq Gardner

The stagehand strike that shut down most of Broadway theatrical productions for 19 days is over. The two sides reached agreement late Wednesday after marathon negotiating sessions for three days at the law offices of Proskauer Rose in New York. The agreement further bolsters the reputation of Bernard Plum of Proskauer as a go-to lawyer who is able to mediate labor disputes. Robert Johnson, a lawyer at Disney, also negotiated on behalf of the producers.

Unlike the WGA strike, where public opinion has mostly favored talent, Broadway producers won the PR battle by, among other things, pointing to stagehand salaries that reach as high as $150,000 a year. The negotiating team for the stagehands has reportedly been full of internal animosity, and in the end, may have relented to producer insistence they needed to cut labor costs. The details of the settlement weren't immediately released, but the New York Times says producers got the union to agree, among other changes, to lowering the minimum of stagehands needed at load-in by nearly half. In return, the union gets larger than expected yearly raises.