Catherwood LibraryILR School

The stalled contract negotiations that shut Broadway down for the past four days came to a negotiated settlement this morning after unionized musicians reached an agreement on contractual minimum orchestral staffing requirements with theatre owners and producers (see yesterday's WIT). The agreement to reduce the minimum number of musicians required at Broadway's thirteen largest theatres from twenty-five--twenty-six to eighteen--nineteen represented a major compromise between producers originally intent on eliminating all minimums, and musicians trying to preserve existing levels. The agreement was reached after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg broke with his pattern of behind the scenes action on labor issues, agreeing to call for resumed negotiations and appointing a mediator to oversee around the clock talks that started at 9 PM last night.