Abstract

Established entertainment industry unions are often perceived to be in decline in a new landscape of work that requires new forms of organising, but the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Allied Crafts (IATSE), a union that represents precarious workers in the entertainment industries in North America continues to expand its membership. This article analyses a shift from seniority-based to skill-based hiring practices in IATSE locals that began in the mid-1990s. Case study research on the formation of a skill-based Canadian IATSE local in 1998 finds that skill-based and seniority-based hiring are each representative of different conceptions of labour. However, the picture this case study sketches also suggests that these seemingly opposing concepts of labour – skill-based and seniority-based – are entangled. The idea of hiring based on ‘skill’ proved to be an effective organising strategy, but intensified precarious working conditions for IATSE employees, and relied on a more entrepreneurial conception of labour.

Highlights

  • Precarious working conditions are a great hardship for many people as non-standard forms of employment become more common (Eurofound, 2015; Lewchuck et al, 2013)

  • Entertainment industry unions such as the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) negotiating for better working conditions for their members have provided an essential service to employers by maintaining a skilled work force ‘that can be used when needed’ in the live performance, film and television industries in North America

  • At present, established entertainment industry unions like the IATSE are often dismissed as part of an old order that is ineffective in a new landscape of work that requires new forms of organising

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Summary

Introduction

Precarious working conditions are a great hardship for many people as non-standard forms of employment become more common (Eurofound, 2015; Lewchuck et al, 2013). In many craft occupations in entertainment industries a union membership is still necessary to have access to work in skilled trades and the membership of the IATSE has continued to expand its jurisdictions and organise new members.

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Conclusion

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