BECTU (the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union) has launched its new Fit4Purpose campaign for freelancers and staff working across the UK’s theatre industry. The campaign follows a six-month consultation with BECTU’s members and other non-members from the UK’s theatre sector.
Announcing the new campaign, BECTU said that the pandemic had taken a devastating toll on the UK’s cultural industries, with huge numbers of freelancers out of work, not earning and unable to access government support. However, the union said that the pandemic had also afforded workers the opportunity to reflect on how the industry’s poor working conditions and culture of long hours was impacting their everyday lives.
Along with wanting the industry to recover from the pandemic, BECTU also says its members are clear that agreements with employers need to be overhauled in order to secure the industry’s long-term future.
BECTU said: “Fit4Purpose aims to alter the nature of the theatre industry and create a fair working environment for all staff in the long term. No business should be run on the charity of its staff; it is time for real change in the theatre industry.”
Fit4Purpose calls on employers in the theatre industry to consolidate the basic wage, in order to make sure workers aren’t relying on overtime to make enough to live on and that overtime starts to be seen as a voluntary practice that workers shouldn’t be pressured into.
Furthermore, the campaign calls for the working week to be kept to five days with reasonable hours and for flexible working and job sharing to be encouraged. Fit4Purpose also asks for precarious contracts, such as zero-hour contracts, to be replaced by guaranteed hours and that employers begin to prioritise the practices of equal opportunity and fair recruitment.
