Stagehands at the Kennedy Center have ratified a new 4-year contract that includes an 8% wage increase (with 1% of that going to healthcare), maintains the line on severance pay and includes additional funding for training and education. Under the new deal, arrived at after months of sometimes rocky negotiations, the Kennedy Center agreed to accept Local 22’s Referral Rules & Procedures. These and other provisions of the new contract “will go a long way to create an atmosphere of trust between Local 22’s membership and the Kennedy Center’s management and bolster the concept pf partnership,” Local 22 president I. Chuck Clay told Union City.