Story of the Week: Is Broadway Going on Strike?

The Broadway League, which represents Broadway producers and landlords, is currently in tense negotiations with not one, but two labor unions whose members are now working on expired contracts.

Actors’ Equity, which represents Broadway actors and stage managers, has been negotiating with the League since August 25 over a new production contract. That’s the document that governs how its members are compensated and their workplace issues addressed. The old contract expired on September 28. Equity’s board has since voted to authorize a strike should negotiations fail, and pledge cards are being distributed at stage doors. The last time Broadway actors went on strike was 1968.

Meanwhile, negotiators for AFM Local 802, which represents musicians, are also in talks with the League. Their contract expired August 31. The union released a statement October 1 signed by nearly 1,000 Broadway musicians promising to do “whatever it takes” to win concessions from the League. The results of a strike authorization vote will be announced after October 12. Both unions seem to be closely collaborating in these negotiations.

Story of the Week will examine the issues at stake, and what it will mean for the industry if Broadway actors and musicians go on strike.

What do the unions want?

They want a greater share of the revenue generated on Broadway ($1.89 billion in the 2024-25 season) to go to the working people who make the shows happen. The now-expired Equity production contract sets the minimum weekly salary for Broadway actors at $2,638. It came into place in 2022, and as any American could tell you, consumer prices have risen across the board since then. This is particularly true in a competitive housing market like New York City, where Broadway performers work and live. According to Zillow, average rent for a studio apartment is now $3,250. Actor Joanna Carpenter explains just how far minimum will take you these days in this Instagram video.

In most parts of the country, an annual salary in the low six figures would put you ahead of the curve (the median household income in the US was $83,730 in 2024), but in New York City it makes you part of the precarious middle—one lost job or rent hike away from having to move out. It’s unsurprising that both Equity and Local 802 have endorsed Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani, who has focused his mayoral campaign on the cost of living.

But the other big issue is healthcare. Producers contribute to insurance plans that the respective unions administer. Equity is projecting a deficit in its plan next year and is negotiating to have producers fill that gap, which would otherwise have to be made up by members or would result in reduced coverage—a dangerous proposition when you’re belting your lungs out and grand-jetéing across the stage eight times a week.

And while the eight-show week (six days on, one day off) has been standard practice on Broadway for decades, absences have markedly increased since the Covid pandemic, suggesting a cultural shift away from the “show must go on and so must I” mentality (the plague ripped through so many casts in March 2020, it is understandable that performers would be wary of showing up to work even mildly ill).

Local 802 is similarly standing firm on what seems to be an attempt to change attendance requirements. The unions’ solution is simple: Hire more swings (these are actors who can swing into roles as needed) and substitute musicians. But every new body hired means more expenses in the form of salary and health insurance contributions.

Why is the League resisting?

It has become customary for the Broadway League to end each season lauding record-breaking grosses, pushing the narrative that Broadway is back, baby! But that only tells half the story. Production costs have skyrocketed, and it is no longer strange for a big Broadway musical to cost over $1 million a week to operate. The divisive but still well-attended revival of Cabaret grossed over $90 million during its 17-month run, but it cost between $1 million and $1.5 million a week to keep going. This has resulted in a loss of the entire $26 million initial investment and has prompted one investor to sue.

According to a much-discussed recent article in the New York Times, only three musicals that have opened post-pandemic have turned a profit: Six, & Juliet, and MJ. That means 90 percent of new Broadway musicals result in a loss (plays have done somewhat better in the postpandemic landscape). That’s the kind of statistic that should send any sane investor running for the hills.

Certainly, there are super-wealthy individuals who are unbothered to report six-figure losses to the tax man—but is relying on their largesse really a sustainable business plan? And how many more of them will producers need to wrangle to pay for the unions’ demands?

Or are union leaders and producers hoping that New York taxpayers will come to the rescue through an extension of the New York City Musical and Theatrical Production Tax Credit, which has doled out $400 million since 2021 under the banner of Covid relief? That program is now expiring, but it seems as though some in the industry have mistaken it for a permanent revenue stream. Broadway may secure an extension of the program from New York lawmakers (this is where the theatrics of a strike could prove useful). But they shouldn’t assume that a strike could lead to the kind of ongoing subsidization that institutional theaters in Europe enjoy (for now). Broadway is still a for-profit business, and as any not-for-profit leader with an NEA grant could tell you, it’s foolish to rely on the government.

The conflict between producers and unions stems from a fundamental economic problem with Broadway, a brand-name business limited to 41 historic buildings in Midtown Manhattan. No one is building new theaters. Producers cannot really add seats or up the number of weekly performances (this is already a sore spot in the negotiations). Maybe a producer can hope to make up for a Broadway loss on tour, but in New York City, productivity is what it is. That means rising costs can only be offset by rising ticket prices or a bold leap into the streaming market—a move that would obviously be subject to even more union negotiations. It is telling that, in all the reporting I’ve read about this round of negotiations, the digital distribution of Broadway shows has never been mentioned.

What happens if there is a strike?

Most Broadway shows would stop performing, although not every show. A small handful of not-for-profit producers operate under a separate contract, so shows like Ragtime (LCT) and Punch (MTC) will continue to perform. Somewhat strangely, Beetlejuice and Mamma Mia! would also continue to perform as they are covered under touring contracts, even though they are playing Broadway houses (one suspects this creeping practice has at least been addressed in Equity’s negotiations). Off-Broadway would also continue to perform, so there would still be plenty of professional quality live theater in New York.

But a protracted strike would be bad for everyone—producers, performers, stagehands, and consumers. Producers will have to make some concessions (supporting the healthcare of workers who put their bodies on the line at every performance is just good business) and so will the unions (an actor cannot expect to have the same absence policy as an accountant). As a lowly critic, I hope all sides come to an agreement that will provide a basis of sustainability for an industry that increasingly makes little economic sense, and that will need to change if it is to survive as a viable business in this century.