First ever Equity in-house agreements signed

in Derry-Londonderry

The union has worked with The Playhouse and In Your Space Circus to design two in-house agreements, formalising terms and conditions that benefit all performers and stage management who work for these organisations.

In Your Space is a circus school and street theatre company and their agreement was not only the first ever Equity agreement in Derry-Londonderry, but the first circus in-house agreement in the whole of the UK.

Meanwhile The Playhouse is Derry-Londonderry’s leading producing theatre as well as an arts centre and is known for using the arts to build peace. Its agreement is the first ever in-house theatre agreement to be signed in Northern Ireland outside of Belfast. The agreement also includes terms relating to performances which include artists educated at The Playhouse Music Theatre Company.

The new agreements formalise minimum rates of pay for professionals equivalent to the industry standard, and set out maximum working hours, holiday entitlements and reference to dignity at work policies. They make up two of a total of eight in-house agreements across Northern Ireland, all of which have been signed in the last two years.

“Our members deserve decent pay and conditions just like workers in any other sectors and these companies are leading the way in the city’s theatre and circus world and beyond!” said Alice Adams Lemon, Equity’s Northern Ireland National Official. “We look forward to more of the area’s live performance producers following in their footsteps.”

Campaign wins back £7m for arts organisations across Scotland

When the Scottish Government announced in December that it would be slashing 10% from Creative Scotland’s budget, the decision was met with outcry – and action.

Creative Scotland is the public body that distributes funding from the Scottish Government to creative organisations across Scotland. This meant that the £7million cut would hit the arts industry, with Creative Scotland’s chief executive Iain Munro warning that it would have to cut in half the number of organisations it provided long-term funding for.

“Let’s be clear, with inflation into double digits, this isn’t a 10% cut to arts funding. It is much worse than that,” said Equity’s National Official for Scotland, Adam Adnyana at the time.

So with the endorsement of the Scottish National Committee, Equity launched an information and letter writing campaign demanding a reversal of the proposal. Over the Christmas period Equity members sent over 600 emails to over 90 MSPs highlighting the impact these cuts would have on local economies and the threat posed to employment opportunities in the Scottish creative industries.

Lobbying activity was also undertaken as part of our membership of Culture Counts, an advocacy network of Scottish creative organisations. We worked with fellow member unions of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) to collectively take action, with STUC General Secretary Rozanne Foyer writing to the Scottish Government. Separately, grassroots group Campaign for the Arts gained over 15,000 signatures to its petition to stop the cut.

Following this sustained pressure, the Scottish Government announced a U-turn on the cut in February. Not only did this safeguard the survival of arts organisations, but it was also a demonstration of the power of our union and its networks in Scotland.

Birds of Paradise theatre company also receives funding (Credit: Andy Catlin)