Ending a two-month strike, the prestigious Atlantic Theater Company and the labor union representing its crew members said Monday that they had reached a tentative agreement that they anticipated would allow the theater to resume performances.
The agreement will be closely scrutinized by New York’s other Off Broadway theaters because the union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, has undertaken a major drive to organize those stage crews. The crews include the stage hands who move scenery and the people working in audio, video, hair, makeup, wardrobe, props, carpentry and lighting.
The union and Atlantic Theater announced the tentative agreement in a joint statement Monday afternoon but said it was pending approval by union members. The contract would cover nearly 100 workers, many of whom are not full-time staff but are hired to work on individual shows.
The parties said they would not describe the details of the agreement until the workers were notified, but they said the agreement featured “significant compensation increases” as well as “comprehensive benefits,” which a union official said would include both health insurance and pension contributions.
The workers are no longer picketing. Chris Boneau, a spokesman for Atlantic, called it “a fair agreement” and said the theater was hoping to soon announce a plan to resume producing shows later this spring.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, commonly known as IATSE, has already reached agreements with the producers of two commercial Off Broadway musicals, “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Titaníque,” and is seeking labor contracts at two more Off Broadway nonprofits, the Public Theater and Vineyard Theater.
The unionization push comes at a tough time for nonprofit theaters, and some producers fear that it will further drive up their costs as they struggle with inflation and diminished attendance. But workers say that times are tough for them too, and that they deserve better pay and benefits than have traditionally been provided Off Broadway.
Atlantic, founded in 1985, is a midsize company with two theaters in Chelsea and the birthplace of several musicals that went on to win the Tony Award for best musical after transferring to Broadway, including “Spring Awakening,” “The Band’s Visit” and “Kimberly Akimbo.” Atlantic also staged the first production of the stage adaptation of “Buena Vista Social Club,” which is now in previews on Broadway and opens next week.
Atlantic and IATSE said in their joint statement that, if the contract is approved as expected, Atlantic would become “the first not-for-profit theater company producing solely Off Broadway in history to have a union agreement covering production classifications.”
Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theater Club and Roundabout Theater Company, large nonprofits that have both Broadway and Off Broadway houses, have unionized stage crews.
Jonas Loeb, the union’s communications director, called the tentative agreement “a step forward for Off Broadway” and said that “after over a year of discussions, it’s great that we have this agreement.”