Broadway stagehands at work

A day after authorizing a strike, members of the union covering Broadway stagehands returned to work Monday under new contract terms imposed by the League of American Theaters and Producers.

But that arrangement won’t be allowed to extend beyond Thanksgiving into the Christmas season, when tourists traditionally jam Broadway theaters, said James J. Claffey Jr., president of Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

The stagehands have been working under a pact that expired July 29. Negotiations came to a standstill two weeks ago, when the league put what it termed its “final offer” on the table. It included a 16% wage increase over five years.

The union proposal was a 22% raise over five years. The sticking point, however, was the league’s insistence on relaxing decades-old work rules that force them, they claim, to hire more stagehands than they actually need, especially when shows are installed in, and removed from, theaters.