Broadway cleaners have reached a tentative agreement with the Broadway League, a week after hosting a rally and strike vote.
The cleaners, represented by 32BJ of Service Employees International Union, reached a tentative deal that includes $5 an hour wage increases, a 21 percent increase from the current rates, by the end of the new four-year contract, as well as improved paid leave, and protection for its employer-paid family health care.
The tentative agreement was reached late Wednesday, but the deal must still be ratified by union members. Negotiations on the new contract began in early June.
During the rally, cleaners voted to authorize a strike, if necessary, for the first time in 18 years. The union represents more than 250 cleaners, who work across shows including Chicago, Aladdin, Schmigadoon and more.
Wages had been a sticking point among the two sides, 32BJ SEIU Executive Vice President Denis Johnston told The Hollywood Reporter at the rally.
“With the high cost of inflation in the city, the high cost of housing, our members are deeply, deeply struggling, like many other working people, and we have to deliver a very strong wage settlement for our members,” Johnston said last week.
The tentative agreement also includes improved pension benefits, strengthened anti-discrimination practices and added Juneteenth as a paid holiday.
“We risked our lives during COVID to make sure Broadway could safely reopen. We work long nights and weekends, often missing major milestones with family and loved ones, to do the hard work it takes to put on each and every performance. This victory honors all that we’ve put in over the years. By winning wage and pension increases, improving paid leave, and protecting our health care, we can dedicate more to taking care of ourselves and enjoying time with the people we care about,” said Martha Aristizabal, porter at the Ambassador Theater and 32BJ SEIU member for 17 years.
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