Organizing Off-Broadway

March 27, 2024 - I have negotiated countless agreements over many years with ten unions. Now, however, I am in the position of  being “on the outside looking in,” and what I see is something new.

For years, IATSE (IA) and Local One have largely stayed away from Off-Broadway, with a couple of isolated, unique exceptions. In recent weeks, that has changed. Employees at the Atlantic Theatre Company voted to unionize and join IA, as did six crew members on “Titanique.” A recent post on an  Instagram account titled @unionizethepublic stated that “The Public Theater has declined to voluntarily  recognize our union” and that the workers will be voting shortly to determine if they will join IA. 

No doubt, other Off-Broadway employees will follow suit. To affirm this, one only needs to read the words of IA representative Dan Little on Playbill.com who stated, “There is a growing movement of entertainment workers Off-Broadway joining in union.” Little’s words also imply that this union organizing is not wholly organic. Playbill.com observed, correctly, “The move is a historic and potentially industry-changing one for Off-Broadway theatre.”

So why is there this sudden burst of Off-Broadway union organizing, seemingly out of the blue? I have no reason to doubt that the employees who are organizing are doing so of their own free will.  Their actions, however, need to be considered in the context of labor trends post-COVID, especially among a younger generation.

This Off-Broadway organizing movement is not a coincidence. Begrudging or not, credit must be given to IA, and Daniel Little, for seizing the opportunity. Little’s job as a union organizer is to recruit and encourage employees to unionize, and he is succeeding. The Atlantic and the Public are not new companies, but IA realized that the moment was right to make their move on these high profile organizations.

IA has its own motivations independent of, but not in opposition to, these employees’ interests. If the union was impacted by the great resignation, then it needs to build up its membership. Where better to turn than the multitude of Off-Broadway theaters that employ a young workforce? I know from the highest echelons that one of IA’s priorities is to diversify its membership, and Off-Broadway can help achieve that goal. Finally, we have seen a national surge in union assertiveness, and IA is acting accordingly.

We know that COVID and the murder of George Floyd had repercussions that continue this day. We are living in an era, not an event. As Yogi Berra once said, “The future ain’t what it used to be.” Even the most accomplished, smart leaders of our major New York theaters may miss the signs that seemingly are right in front of them. Our job as leaders, therefore, in the words of another sports legend, “The Great One,” Wayne Gretzky, is to “skate where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”

News page photo: Off-Broadway workers and IATSE employees at a Feb. 29 press conference. (Photo by IATSE)