Just a quick update on the negotiations between the stagehands’ union, IATSE Local 1, and Broadway’s producers – the two sides may be close to an agreement. One of the big issues here has been the work rules changes that the League of American Theatres and Producers is seeking.

Today’s NY Daily News has this:

Local 1, which represents the stagehands, has agreed to change some work rules but is still holding out for some kind of "salary compensation" in exchange for those concessions, according to a union source.

"There’s a fear that the unions will lose any form of power if they concede to everything without getting something in return," another union source said.

Local 1 spokesman Bruce Cohen said the issues still left on the bargaining table are "small in number and important to both sides."

And the NY Times:

While the talks are apparently in the endgame, it’s an endgame that could last for quite a while, said officials who are involved with the negotiations on both sides.

Discussions about wage increases are usually considered the final stages of a labor negotiation, but the gap between the sides that has existed all along is still very much there, the officials said.

and

The union, Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, has agreed to many of the [work rules] changes, or variations of them, and has set what it considers just compensation in wage increases and other areas for their agreeing to the rule changes. The league considers the union’s price tag unreasonable.

Talks are continuing this morning. For more on the issues, see this video.