2-13-09
International Travel Key Issue
in
Upcoming CAT Contract Talks
Criss Henderson
International travel is likely to be a key issue in the upcoming negotiations for the new Chicago Area Theatre (CAT) contract. The contract is negotiated by Actors’ Equity and the Producers Association of Chicago Area Theatres (PACT), which, probably not coincidentally, is headed by Chicago Shakespeare executive director Criss Henderson and Steppenwolf executive director David Hawkanson. Both CST and Steppenwolf have upped their international profiles in the last few years (see story this page), and easing what they see as onerous Equity restrictions on travel and travelers should be a big part of their negotiating stance.
But Actors’ Equity has a more nuanced approach. Their issue is one of outsourcing. When producers slot international shows into their seasons, they’re often replacing locally produced shows that hire local actors. Not only are local actors potentially losing jobs, but Equity is losing health and pension revenue.
Both Kathryn Lamkey, Actors’ Equity Central Region director, and Henderson do agree that it can be aggravating to have to reinvent the wheel each time a local theatre wants to bring in artists from abroad.
“Every time you want to bring an actor from another country, you have to start from scratch with Equity,” said Henderson.
That, agreed Lamkey, “takes time, and time in some cases is your enemy.”
Henderson wants to set some baseline packages that they can offer companies—even other companies in the U.S.—so that “we can have some shared understanding of how this work might move.”
Lamkey said she’s willing to look at some sort of baseline standard that would be used in each international deal. But she warns that there are just too many variables—housing, equipment needs, the size of the company, the length of the run, etc.—to make cookie cutter contracts.
“Sometimes when you establish a standard, there is no variation that can happen,” Lamkey said.
Still, she added: “We think it is important to have U.S. theatre companies traveling around the world, because it gives a picture of Americans as very literate people.”
The CAT contract talks are slated to start sometime in April. Some of the travel issues might be ironed out in LORT contract talks. Those should end the last week in February and are negotiated in New York. (Goodman, Court and Northlight work under LORT agreements.) Neither Henderson nor Lamkey would say what kind of contracts or standards for international artists they hope might come out of the talks. Says Henderson: “What we’ll be looking for is some demonstrated commitment to making this work.”