The Economist: EVERY few decades there is a sea change in the rules governing labour relations in the United States. In the 1930s Franklin Roosevelt shifted the balance of power towards labour. In the 1980s Ronald Reagan shifted it back towards employers. Two new legal rulings raise the possibility that the balance of power is changing again.
2 comments:
According to my understanding of the FLSA, an employee is a W2 employee if his or her employer has control over what is done and how it gets done. In theatre it becomes very important to know whether or not you as a worker are an independent contractor because there is such a fine line between jobs. This article discusses at length “work on-command” but to me, it seems as though artists have been doing this for quite some time already, and the solution to all of the turmoil faced by the modern workers described in the article was unions. The union provides protection to people who are in a way independent contractors because of the short time frame for their work but who fit the profile of an employee according to the IRS. On the other side, the union provides a layer of protection between the employers and the employees. While unions may be an invention of the past, they can still work in the future because they represent a bargaining collective, and the key to bargaining is to stay up-to-date with the collective represented.
With all the turmoil going on about low wages, something is going to change. However, I don't think the author has provided much evidence that a change of the level they are referring to, will happen. This could have exciting ramifications as it pertains to theater. I have worked for 3 summer stocks where I was clearly, and undeniably, an employee, but I was paid as a contractor. During one of those summers I had to go to the hospital for a work related injury, nothing life changing, but still bad enough to need the trip. When I went to the company to have them reimburse me they refused. Someone at the company quietly gave me a pamphlet about the laws and I went back with that in hand. This time they paid for everything. Had I not known the laws, I could've ended up with a huge bill. Stricter regulations would likely hit out industry at some point. At the very least bringing it to the forefront in the media would make people more aware of their rights. It seems to be a serious problem with theaters, where low budgets lead people to care a lot less about the safety of their employees. This is an attitude we should not be letting thrive.
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