International Federation of Actors Supports Equity Strike

As BroadwayWorld reported this week, the Broadway community has been taking a stand with Actors' Equity in the "Not a Lab Rat" campaign, to increase the minimum salary for developmental labs, as well as get profit sharing for lab participants.Actors' Equity and the Broadway League have been disputing the issue, but Equity says they have reached an impasse and are now officially calling for a strike in a new statement:

After nearly two years of unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a new contract to replace the Lab Agreement with the Broadway League, members of Actors' Equity Association have declared a strike calling for a halt to all new show development work with members of the Broadway League.

Now the International Federation of Actors, (FIA), representing performers in more than 70 nations, has released a statement in support of the strike.

Read the statement below:

Dear colleagues and fellow members of American Actors' Equity,

The International Federation of Actors (FIA) stands in solidarity and supports your rightful claim for decent pay for development work on Broadway musicals.

Thanks to your talent, dedication and resolve, many projects turn into extremely popular and successful shows. Yet, it is shocking to hear that weekly salaries under your Broadway Lab Agreement have been frozen for so long and fundamentally refute the value of your creative contribution.

Lab work is of vital importance for the nurturing of new productions. It is highly professional work and it should be paid accordingly.

FIA commends the difficult but necessary action undertaken by American Actors' Equity and calls on its worldwide membership to stand united. FIA also urges the Broadway League to increase the weekly rate of performers working on show development and grant them a 1% profit share, after recoupment.

The International Federation of Actors represents performers' trade unions, guilds and professional associations in more than 70 countries. In a connected world of content and entertainment, it stands for fair social, economic and moral rights for audiovisual performers working in all recorded media and live theatre.

In solidarity,

Ferne Downey
President

Dominick Luquer
General Secretary

Actors' Equity Association, founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers. Equity endeavors to advance the careers of its Members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits (health and pension included). Member: AFL-CIO, FIA. www.actorsequity.org #EquityWorks