Leaders of the actors' union Equity last night averted a strike which threatened to close theatres across the country.
Equity has come to an agreement with the Theatrical Management Association over its #250 per week minimum pay demand for members working in Britain's 102 regional subsidised theatres.
It had rejected previous TMA offers of a #225 minimum but, after lengthy talks on Monday, the TMA improved its offer which was accepted by a meeting of Equity council members.
The agreement is that from April 1998 actors will receive a minimum salary of #250 a week. The previous minimum for Equity's 35,000 actors was #190 a week.
The minimum from April 7 this year will be increased to #225. Increases of inflation plus 2% will come into effect from 1999.
Equity president Frederick Pyne said: ''Increasingly actors have been telling these theatres that they can no longer afford to work for them. This agreement is a start towards reversing that trend.''
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