The New York Times reports that members of Local One, the Broadway Stage-Hands Union, voted unanimously to authorize a strike in December if negotiations with the League of American Theaters and Producers producers don’t meet their demands. The issue is number of stagehands working on a show, as well as tasks they are required to perform. The League wants to relax restrictions, which would mean that there will be a whole lot of room for directors and stage managers to reduce numbers of stagehands, overwork the ones they have, and give them tasks that maybe they don’t usually perform.

Of course, December is the target month for the possible srike, because that time of year is prime tourist season. But, a strike would be a terrible thing for the Broadway people who would be out of work, and I hope there is a settlement for that reason. I don’t feel bad for the tourism and hotel people. EVEN IF Broadway goes dark, the tourists will still come– for the shopping and everything else NYC has to offer at holiday season, and every other season throughout the year. The difference will be that the greedy hotels in the Theater District, may not be able to double or triple their room rates