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August 31, 2024
IM -Musicians who perform for Arden Theatre productions have successfully filed a petition for recognition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to be represented by Local 77 (Philadelphia, PA). The request followed a nod from a “supermajority” of musicians signing union cards.
“This was actually musician driven,” says Local 77 President Ellen Trainer of the union effort at the theater. “I think the musicians have been disappointed in the fact that there is a union representing the actors”—and not one representing them—“and the fact that the musicians have not had any wage increases since 2016.”
According to Trainer, in 2016, musicians at the Old City theater earned about 94% of the actors’ wages, and now they make about 77% of the actors’ wages.
“For many years, our union has had long-standing relationships with the other great Philadelphia theaters. As we continue to strengthen the vibrancy of our region’s arts community, we look forward to the same opportunity on behalf of the workers who make the Arden’s musicals possible,” she says.
The group of musicians seeking union representation includes string, woodwind, brass, and percussion players. Arden’s musicians would join musicians of the Forrest Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre, and Philadelphia Theatre Company, also represented by Local 77.