We are officially asking our supporters for help! Given the current state of negotiations, the AGMA Dancers and Stage Managers of New York City Ballet boycotted the red carpet and dinner at the Fall Fashion Gala on October 8. Following the boycott, Management and AGMA returned to the table in between performances on October 11.

The result? Management still has not offered fair wages:

• Management increased their proposal by just 0.5% over 3 years.
• Their latest proposed wage increases total still much less than 1% of NYCB’s total budget and fail to reflect NYC’s soaring cost of living.

Reality check:

• Artists took a 4% pay cut during the pandemic to sustain the company.
• Since then, inflation is up 22% in the NYC metro area.
• Our wages have only increased by 9.7% net over five and a half years.
• Artists only work 37 weeks out of the year at NYCB.
• Nearly half (48%) of our take-home pay goes to housing.
• The cost of living keeps climbing; groceries, rent, transportation, and other essentials are up across the board.

Our pay shouldn’t fall further behind every year. We’re simply asking for wages that reflect the reality of life in this city and that allow us to stay here and continue working.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

As we prepare for future negotiations, we need your support! Please send letters to New York City Ballet’s leadership, asking them to offer wages that address the steep increase in the cost of living in New York City. Your support is crucial to ensure that New York City Ballet continues to be a world-class organization where the dedicated, talented artists who delight, amaze, and inspire audiences have the resources to sustain our careers.

HOW TO SEND A LETTER:

We have launched this Action Network letter-writing campaign, and you can send a pre-drafted email in under five minutes. You can send it as is or personalize it any way you’d like. However, PLEASE enter your own personalized SUBJECT LINE to avoid it being sent to spam.

The letter will be automatically sent to:

• Jonathan Stafford, Artistic Director
• Wendy Whelan, Associate Artistic Director
• Marquerite Mehler, Senior Director of Operations
• Jeffrey Peek, President of the Board of Directors
• Diana Taylor, Chair of the Board of Directors
• Kathy Brown, Executive Director

You do not need to be an AGMA member to send a letter through this campaign. Every voice and every supporter of the AGMA Artists of New York City Ballet matters. We hope you take a further step and encourage friends, family, and colleagues to send a letter by sharing this campaign with your network.