Alongside a widespread dissatisfaction with pay among workers at venues represented by UK Theatre – predominantly those outside London – the results also reveal that almost half rely on money earned from working overtime in order to attain “a decent level of income”.
6 comments:
I think it is horrible that backstage theatre workers are getting treated so badly in the UK. Being a stagehand is already an underappreciated job, so it is terrible that they are not getting paid properly. They are very hardworking people and they deserve to have steady hours and higher pay. Theatre is not a steady industry because it is not very predictable and there are crazy hours. Even though the hours are crazy, stagehands should still be able to work enough hours to sustain a life. Especially if they have been working at a certain company for so many years. They should be treated the right way and be rewarded for their continued loyalty and hard work. Stagehands have very stressful jobs with a lot of hard labor depending on the show. There is a little less stress now that there is more automation and technology powered elements to shows. They still need to be able to operate all of that and move it if necessary.
As much as I’d like to say that there has been a steady increase in the quality of treatment of backstage workers or even an increase in their pay and benefits. It’s simply can’t be done. The producers and managers of a show are more worried about the actors and designers, budgets and timelines, than they are about stage hands that they see as replaceable. They lack benefits and stable schedules because the Union and the theater system aren’t effectively communicating. These numbers don’t surprise me, and the ones that didn’t comment probably didn’t do so because they are afraid of losing the few hours they have. It’s a shame that people who are in it for the same reason as the higher ups, the love of the craft, have to suffer for their passions. Something more than talk and statistics needs to be done here, before we lose talented, passionate people to better paying work.
Having to work long hours and still not be paid enough to make a living, something is wrong with the societal standards. In some cases, people want to get paid more for doing little work, or at least work that is not difficult to do by any means. These are the people who are lazy, and are just looking to make a fast dollar. In our industry, we don’t expect to make the big bucks, but we do like to feel rightly compensated for our work. Everyone comes in with their own type of skillset, but sometimes, the amount of work put in to meet a deadline, doesn’t compute to the amount that a person is earning in that time. Nobody wants to make just ends meet, otherwise, how can you enjoy the simple pleasures in life if you aren’t making enough to do so. At least they’ve started to discuss the irregularities with those kinds of standards.
Well this is unfortunate. It's always tough to see the people that we might be one day being treated poorly. This is especially tough because being a stagehand is already a very undervalued job, so it's very possible that the UK will start losing workers. Another really harsh part of this situation is that the people who do take on this rigorous job are the people who really love what they're doing. On the side of the article, it lists the five best parts of this job, and it really is impossible to find these five qualities in any other kind of work. So to be in a position where you're doing what you love and treated poorly for it and not being appreciated is a really dark path. Because where else are you going to go? Former stagehands will end up in stuffy jobs they don't enjoy that might not have even one of the five great qualities that being a stagehand boasts. I really hope that in the years to come, life for stage hands (and all members of the backstage family) gets easier, not only for my own sake, but for the sake of the profession as a whole.
It is a terrible thing in our society that a group of people that are crucial to allowing theatre to happen feel that they are underpaid and under-appreciated. Without them the story could not be told. By no means does anyone in the theatre industry expect to make a ton of money in this profession, but these workers should absolutely have a right to feel like their work is appreciated, and if that means a little extra cash, then I say it is worth looking into.
Chase Del Rey <54-102> 54102 <54102>
It is pretty terrible that these stagehands feel that they are being treated so poorly. It really is not fun to show up to a job that you feel you are not getting compensated fairly for. That being said, it said at the end of the article that two thirds of those that were complaining had been with the same venue for over 5 years and 42% had been at one place over 10 years! It is one thing to hate your job and then quit and move to another gig, but staying at the same job feels a little bit like the definition of insanity! The entertainment world and job market is pretty competitive, so I guess I can't say its surprising that a lot of employees are getting lowballed in terms of salaries and contracts. All that being said, I sincerely hope BECTU is able to swing better contracts, at least a cost of living increase.
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