Broadway Strike - Day nine: talks continue and so does the strike

Negotiations between The League of American Theatres and Producers and Broadway's unionised stage hands, (members of Local one - part of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees), began at 10am on 17 Nov 2007 at the Westin Hotel. There have been no official statements about the meeting, but it did continue until 11pm last night, and there are set to be resumed at 9:30am today.

No one in the industry is prepared to make a guess at whether this is a hopeful sign of a settlement, or a deepening of the disagreements. The theatre world is known for its superstition, and the silence may well stem from not wanting to 'jinx' the talks, at least that is what one producer told us.

The strike is finally beginning to have an economic low-down in the theatre district of Manhattan. It is being estimated that the city is losing $2million a day during the strike, with the business most affected being hotels, restaurants and bars.

In order to help restaurants who have lost many of their patrons because of the strike, Mayor Bloomberg, NYC & Company and Times Square Alliance have announced a week-long dining initiative, which began yesterday, 17 Nov 2007 and runs through to 25 Nov 2007 (Excluding Thanksgiving Day, 22 Nov). The program offers a 15% discount on lunch or dinner to all patrons at more than 25 participating restaurants.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said about the initiative �Dining in the District is a great opportunity for New Yorkers and visitors to enjoy some of the best restaurants in the Theatre District. While we hope that an agreement will be reached as soon as possible, I encourage New Yorkers and visitors to take advantage of this great deal and help support restaurants that have been affected by the strike.�

A full list of participating restaurants, and their addresses, can be found here

Members of Local 1 on the picket line outside of the Minskoff Theatre are mourning the death of 57-year-old Frank J. Lavaia. Lavaia suffered a fatal heart attack on Friday evening while walking the picket line outside of the Minskoff Theatre. The picketers outside the Minskoff Theatre are wearing black armbands, made by the wardrobe union, to mark the passing of their colleague.

Broadway Strike! - Day one
Broadway Strike! - Day two
Broadway Strike! - Day three
Broadway Strike! - Day four
Broadway Strike! - Day five
Broadway Strike! - Day six
Broadway Strike! - Day seven
Broadway Strike! - Day eight

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