The strike has temporarily shuttered two off-Broadway productions: Eliya Smith’s Grief Camp and Mona Pirnot’s I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan.
Stage crew workers at Atlantic Theater Company, one of the most important not-for-profit theaters in New York City, walked off the job ahead of yesterday’s matinee performances of Eliya Smith’s Grief Camp (at the company’s Linda Gross Theater on 20th Street) and Mona Pirnot’s I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan (at the smaller Stage 2 on 16th Street), following a breakdown in contract negotiations between Atlantic management and the union. Both productions are now postponed indefinitely.
Last February, Atlantic stage crew members voted to unionize with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), becoming the first crew at an off-Broadway not-for-profit to do so. IATSE began a major push to organize off-Broadway in 2024, with the crew of the commercial production of Titanique voting just weeks earlier to join the union. Since then, crews at other off-Broadway not-for-profits, including the Vineyard and the Public, have also voted to unionize.
“Atlantic Theater’s refusal to bargain fairly has left the crew no choice but to strike,” said IATSE International President Matthew D. Loeb in a press statement. IATSE has expressed frustration with the sluggish pace of negotiations as the one-year anniversary of the voted to unionize approaches. Last fall, IATSE filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board after the company postponed the opening of its season (it was originally slated to begin in October with NSangou Njikam’s A Freeky Introduction, which has now been moved to May 2025).
In an open letter to Atlantic’s board of directors in November, Loeb accused the company of causing “considerable delay and by its pattern of conduct repudiated its legal obligation to bargain in good faith.”
Atlantic Theater Company disputes the charge and has released its own statement: “Atlantic has been working together diligently with IATSE for months to create a fair contract for our crew workers and we have offered a good faith agreement with nearly a 20% increase in wages and other benefits. Recognizing how long a first contract can take, Atlantic offered two interim agreements over the past two months that included 13% increases in wages and health, effective immediately in return for a no strike agreement while we continue to bargain in good faith. Both of these offers were ignored.”
The push to unionize coincided with a period of financial crisis for America’s not-for-profit theaters, with ticket and philanthropic revenue down as expenses have gone up. This has led companies to scale back their seasons, with some even closing their doors — a story Atlantic was quick to reference in explaining why it was reluctant to agree to IATSE’s demands.
“If IATSE is successful in getting their proposed financials with Atlantic, it would set a precedent for other Off-Broadway companies and we may see the demise of some of our greatest institutions, including Atlantic,” the statement continues, “Atlantic is pro-union and works collaboratively with several other unions, but we have to make this agreement financially sustainable for everyone or we will not be around to offer any work to anyone.”
Speaking on behalf of IATSE, Loeb referenced the $4.3 million Atlantic received as part of the Covid-era Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, and has asserted, “We are prepared to resume negotiations as soon as Atlantic Theater is ready to bargain in good faith.”
Atlantic is one of the most acclaimed companies off-Broadway, having presented the original off-Broadway productions of The Band’s Visit and Kimberly Akimbo, both of which transferred to Broadway and won Best Musical Tony Awards. The company also mounted the off-Broadway runs of the musical Buena Vista Social Club and Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama English, both of which will appear on Broadway this year.