IATSE: The stagehands, dressers, treasurers and ticket sellers, musicians, performers, stage managers, and hair and make-up artists of the Los Angeles Opera are all represented by unions, and work with the protections that a union contract provides. However, it wasn’t until Tuesday that the craftspeople of the LA Opera’s costume shop, who are largely LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, or women, gained these same benefits.
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Of course, it's good to hear that the workers in the LA Opera's costume shop voted for union representation and were able to approve this contract. I think I remember making a comment on the linked September article about the leaflets, so it's interesting for me to see the end of this story. Though it says that the negotiation (going on since 2021) was frustrating and problematic, the terms of the contract are (in my opinion) impressive. It's at least a huge improvement over the terrible conditions and wages the employees worked under previously. However, I found myself wondering why they were behind the other groups of employees in getting unionized, as the article says in the beginning. There are definitely still underrepresented and underpaid groups of workers struggling in theater, and while this is one victory for employees, the theater world still has a ways to go.
It’s really great for me to see theatre workers, specifically costumers being recognized by unions and getting the benefits they deserve. In the entertainment industry, stability is not always a luxury that workers can rely on, but this agreement will give the craftspeople of the LA Opera’s costume shop stability. It also provides things like time limits on how long someone can be classified in the two lowest wage categories, health care contributions, vacation pay, and retirement contributions. These are things that are often not offered to craftspeople and shop workers. Its surprising to me that the artisans voted in favor of union representation in December of 2021, but it’s just now being finalized. I guess there were a lot of specifics that had to be negotiated, but I’m very well that it worked out in favor of the LA Opera costume shop workers. Hopefully this is a trend that will continue in other costume shops.
Being someone who works to go into the costume industry and is close with a costume shop worker in LA, I’m glad to see things like this happen. It truly gives me hope about my future and opens up potential path that I can take as a costume designer. I have been following this event since the beginning, where costume workers went on strike in 2020. It is truly meaningful for me to see something that have been placed in responds and result of their actions. While there is still a lot to work on, it is fortunate that things like this can be actually become true. A union can give so much to its members and to the entire industry. It sets rules and boundaries for workers and encourages employers to follow them as they can be a stronger enforcer. In addition these rules also prevents and decrease the amount of designer who overworks.
This article truly highlights the ongoing misogyny in the theatrical industry. As one of my wise friends who is a brilliant seamstress says “The reason we [costumers] get so little respect is because this job is seen as “women’s work””. I personally think that costumes specifically attract a lot of marginalized people by its nature of helping disguise but also express oneself. This form of expression can be especially freeing to someone who feels pressured to hide who they are. As the article says “LA Opera’s costume shop, who are largely LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, or women”, were greatly affected by this first union contract.
Overall from the article I gathered that this action was more so to catch up to other unions rather than innovate better working conditions. It reminds me the buffer that exists between concentrations. I hope for the best to this union as I think they have a steady start.
One of the biggest concerns of theatrical artists trying to pursue a career within the arts is whether or not they will be able to sustain a liveable wage, and have stability within their income to allow for them to continue to do the work that they enjoy and want to continue doing. Especially with the pandemic and recent rises in the United States economy, it is almost impossible for lower class workers to find themselves being paid a living wage, and without unions, especially in fields like theatre that are heavily populated with workers unions, un-unionized departments are left to fend for themselves in the face of low wages, limited hours, and limited healthcare and retirement benefits. It is always great to read about a new group of people being able to gain union benefits, especially when considering the vigorous amount of time and effort that often goes into work within costume shops.
One thing I really didn’t know much about was unions coming into this program. I knew they existed, but I didn’t know how many of them there were or really what they did. So that’s one thing that I really like learning about while being a Carnegie Mellon in our classes in Newsweek. One thing that I really liked about this article is that the people who are largely gaining these benefits are LGBTQ plus and biotic in women groups. I also found it really interesting that This union is helping overwork hires for the first time get vacation, pay and help with retirement and healthcare. I would never have imagined that it would be the first time that it would be that way for over-hire workers but I think it’s really important. I also found it interesting that the wage increase will be between 30 to 52% based on their job, I think the LA opera COSTUME SHOP formed a union that can be beneficial for all people not just a certain group
Congratulations to the craftspeople of Los Angeles Opera for fighting for and getting these crucial contract improvements! These costume shop workers were able secure an increase in wages, benefits, and job security, which recently railroad workers were not able to obtain. Last year, there seemed to be so many articles about how unions were trying to renegotiate their contracts for basic compensation and while some were successful, there were many reports of only small improvements made. It seems, from an outsider’s perspective, that the LA Opera was willing and open to not only listening to their employees, but actually making it happen. When I first read that employees had handed out some flyers about their situation to patrons, I assumed many of these workers would have been fired or faced some sort of retribution. So often this industry is considered to be progressive, but more often than not it shows how much of this industry is centered around profits.
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