After 16 months of negotiations, stagehands at Washington’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts unanimously voted to strike.

The strike vote was in response to threats by the performing arts center’s management to slash wages 40 percent and eliminate jobs along with the imposition of other draconian cuts and changes to working conditions.

The vote by the members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 22 has now given the Local 22 executive board the authority to call a strike and for members and supporters of the union to then set up picket lines outside the Kennedy Center.

The only way the strike can be prevented is if the Kennedy Center’s management reverses its position before the end of the week. If the Kennedy Center does not change its position the workers will go on strike and will likely lead to the cancelation of the upcoming production of “Hadestown” as well as other productions.

In a statement, IATSE Local 22 president David McIntrye noted, “A strike can be avoided and Hadestown can take the stage, but that’s up to Kennedy Center’s managers. We’ve been more than willing to tighten our belts and help the Kennedy Center during this difficult time for the arts. However, the Kennedy Center’s management team has decided to use the pandemic as an excuse to gut our contract while taking millions in federal relief dollars just as large audiences are scheduled to return.”

Other contentious issues between the Kennedy Center and its workers include health and safety protocols and management’s refusal to provide even basic scheduling information to workers so that they can better plan both their work and home life.