No business should be run on the charity of its staff – theatre workers launch new campaign

Today, Bectu – the union for non-performance workers in the theatre industry – has launched the Fit4Purpose campaign aimed at improving terms and conditions and securing the long term future of the industry.

Following six months of consultation with union members and non-members, across departments and craft associations working in theatres, the need for change has become increasingly clear.

Employers and union members have worked together to save the industry – save its buildings, productions and close-knit teams of skilled workers. Now we need to work together again to seize this opportunity to modernise, to reset terms and conditions and re-balance working lives.

Bectu membership in theatres has always been strong and has doubled in size during the pandemic. Our members are asking with one voice for change to happen.

The shutdown of the theatre industry allowed the space and time for workers to step back and assess how aspects of the industry such as the long hours culture and poor terms and conditions affect their day to day lives. Many experienced life working in other industries, with shorter hours but similar pay.

Bectu members are clear on the need to get the sector back on its feet over the coming months but members are equally clear, over the coming year, that they want to work with employers to overhaul agreements in order to safeguard the long term future of the industry.

Key Requests

Members are campaigning for employers across the industry to:

Consolidate the basic wage, so that workers do not have to rely on overtime to make ends meet
Ensure that overtime is understood as voluntary and nobody is pressured into working long hours
Keep the working week to five days, with reasonable basic hours
Encourage more flexible working and job sharing
End all precarious contracts (e.g. zero hours) and replace with guaranteed hours across a variety of reference periods to accommodate the diversity of workers’ personal lives and caring responsibilities
Prioritise equal opportunities and fair recruitment.

Helen Ryan, Assistant National Secretary said:

“The pandemic has inflicted great suffering on the cultural industries, leaving thousands of theatre workers without employment and income for over a year.

“For many theatre workers, the pandemic also triggered a realisation of the long term change that is needed in the industry. Once taken out of the hectic work life and long hours culture, workers in the industry took a stock check and assessed just how bad the work/life balance and terms and conditions for theatre workers are.

“No business should be run on the charity of its staff; it is time for real change in the theatre industry.”