Penn Live Arts production workers unanimously vote to unionize

Employees at Penn Live Arts’ Annenberg Center have unionized with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, according to a Wednesday announcement. 

All eight production employees — including audio engineers, digital production supervisors, house electricians, production coordinators, and theater technicians — voted unanimously on the decision. The election was certified by the National Labor Relations Board on April 22.

PLA manages programming and operations for multiple spaces within the Annenberg Center. Employees will join IATSE Local 8, a union that aims to “improve all entertainment workers’ lives.”

A request for comment was left with a University spokesperson.

Daniel Little, IATSE’s international representative, wrote in the release that production worker unionization “benefits more than one workplace.”

“It strengthens the arts community and helps ensure professional standards across nonprofit and university venue,” Little added.

Theater technician Tait Adams wrote that while there are “a lot of great aspects” of working at PLA, there is “also a lot of room for improvement,” adding that workers “deserve to have a say in our conditions.”

“Being represented by IATSE Local 8 means that we have the necessary support and resources to make sure our voices are heard and recognized,” Adams wrote.

Following the unionization vote, workers are expected to begin negotiating their first collective bargaining agreement with the University.

The union certification follows a larger wave of labor activity at Penn. 

Earlier this semester, Graduate Employees Together — University of Pennsylvania, which represents more than 3,700 graduate workers, moved toward a potential strike after over than a year of negotiations with administrators.

Penn and GET-UP reached a tentative agreement on Feb. 16, narrowly averting the strike. The contract raised the minimum doctoral stipend from $40,608 to $49,000. Graduate workers will receive an increased stipend and enhanced childcare and medical benefits, among other items.

Research Associates and Postdocs United at Penn also recently pushed the University to improve worker conditions. The union proposed a minimum salary of $85,000 for postdocs and $103,210 for research associates, in addition to expanded benefits.

This month, workers at Penn Libraries and the Penn Museum raised concerns over possible changes to employee benefits, including healthcare and retirement plans. A union representative told The Daily Pennsylvanian at the time that the proposed changes signaled a “big red flag” and could reduce existing benefits.

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