The latest round of talks between the producers’ league and the stagehands’ union broke down last night, leaving no end in sight for the strike that has darkened most of Broadway for nine days.þþSoon after the breakdown, the League of American Theaters and Producers announced that it was canceling performances of the 27 shows affected by the strike through Sunday.þþNo further talks have been scheduled.þþThe negotiations — which lasted for more than 13 hours Saturday and for 11 hours yesterday — came to a halt a little after 9 p.m.þþBruce Cohen, a spokesman for the stagehands’ union, Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, said in a statement that “producers informed Local 1 that what Local 1 offered was not good enough, and they left.”þþCharlotte St. Martin, the executive director of the producers’ league, said: “We presented a comprehensive proposal that responded to the union’s concerns about loss of jobs and earnings and attempted to address our need for some flexibilities in running our business. The union rejected our effort to compromise and continues to require us to hire more people than we need.”þþThe producers decided to cancel the performances, she said, so that tourists coming to town for the Thanksgiving weekend could make other plans. þþOne of the shows affected by the strike might reopen. The union has ordered that the picket line come down for “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!,” which is playing at the St. James Theater, said James Sanna, one of the show’s producers.þþ“Grinch,” which runs on an unusual 12-performances-a-week schedule, had negotiated a special arrangement with Local 1 last year, said Mr. Sanna, who argued that arrangement put it outside the current negotiations. Mr. Sanna, who is not a member of the league, said he expected the show to be up and running for the Tuesday evening performance. þþThe league said last night that it had not been informed of the decision to reopen “Grinch.”þþThe breakdown in talks came as a disappointment to the actors, musicians and other theater professionals who are now living on strike pay, as well as the Broadway-dependent workers — bartenders, waiters, pedicab drivers and others — who have been coping with the shutdown since Nov. 10. þþThe latest round of negotiations, which took place at the Westin New York hotel on 43rd Street, was announced Wednesday, and some in the industry were optimistic that the stagehands’ strike, which shuttered all but eight Broadway shows, could come to a close before Thanksgiving. þþRobert W. Johnson, a senior labor relations executive from Disney, came to New York to help with the talks. Though Mr. Johnson was sitting on the side of the table with the League of American Theaters and Producers, Disney is not a member of the league, and Mr. Johnson has had a long relationship with union officials. He helped negotiate the stagehands’ contract at the Disney-owned New Amsterdam Theater 10 years ago. þþThomas C. Short, the president of Local 1’s parent union, also attended the talks. þþThe league and the union have been negotiating since July, when the contract expired. Producers have been trying to add some flexibility to the rules on when stagehands are needed for work, how many are needed and what tasks they performed. The union has said it is open to changes, as long as they come with benefits of equal value. þþThe talks over the weekend were the first since the two sides broke off negotiations on Nov. 8. But there was a sense yesterday that things were not going to turn out well.þþHundreds of Local 1 members arrived at the Westin yesterday morning for a scheduled monthly business meeting. Little was said about the progress of the talks, other than that they were tough.þþAbout 9:20 p.m., a group of union negotiators walked out of the hotel, and shortly afterward, the negotiating team representing the theater owners and producers followed.þþ“It’s a big disappointment,” said Paul Libin, a producing director and part owner of the Jujamcyn theater chain.þþ
Source: NY Times
