NPR: Stage Actors' Union Strikes Over Workshop Actor Pay

The sticking point is not just a raise in salary but the union’s insistence that members of developmental labs receive a percentage of royalties if the show moves on to a full production. McColl says it isn’t a lot of money.

“This ask is of one percent of any net profit to be shared by every actor and stage manager that participates in any of the development of the show – so that could be one percent being shared by ten people, it could be one percent being shared by forty people, and it is of net profit, so the producer makes back all of their original expense to mount a show, all of their capitalization expenses are back, and they are now making profit.”

In other words, ten thousand dollars out of every one million dollars for every show which turns a profit and only one out of every five shows does. READ MORE