NEW YORK—Broadway theatre cleaners, porters and matrons reached a tentative three-year contract late Thursday that provides improved healthcare coverage, raises and pensions for workers in a tough economic climate. The agreement, which was reached with the Broadway League, a national trade association for the industry, covers the members of the 32BJ union, a division of the Service Employees International Union, which represents some 240 workers at more than 30 Broadway theatres in New York City. The contract enables workers and producers to avoid a costly strike.

“The workers who keep the theatres clean are as much a part of the Great White Way as the plays, actors, crews and patrons,” said Hector Figueroa, 32BJ Secretary-Treasurer. “This contract provides good wages with benefits now and retirement security for down the road."

Under the terms of the contract, beginning in 2010, the Broadway League will make weekly contributions to the 32BJ League Pension Fund that will help ensure workers retirement security. The League will also continue to provide employer-paid family healthcare coverage. In addition, workers were able to secure a dollar an hour boost over the life of the three-year contract, or a 6.2 percent raise.

“I’m extremely happy that we get to keep our healthcare and we got pensions and pay increases,” said Caroline Rodriguez who is a mother of two and a porter at the Majestic Theater on Broadway. “My family needs this.”

“The League worked cooperatively and productively late into the night to come to an agreement that benefits the workers and ensures the continued success of Broadway theatres,” said Figueroa.

The settlement is tentative until it has been ratified.

With more than 120,000 members in eight states and Washington D.C., including 70,000 in the New York area, 32BJ is the largest property service union in the country.

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