West End theatre ballot begins

Union members in London's Theatreland are voting to strike over low pay.

Employers belonging to the Society of London Theatres (SOLT) have been warned by BECTU that an industrial action ballot will begin on Tuesday March 5 as part of a long-running dispute over poverty wages.

Members rejected a 3.25% pay offer early in February, on the grounds that it did not deal with the union's demand that low pay should be outlawed in London theatres.

Voting papers are due to be sent to all BECTU members in commercial theatres in the West End, where the union has identified 37 separate workplaces where managers have refused to agree minimum pay rates above the UK Low Pay Unit decency threshold of £7.32 per hour.

Average hourly rates in London's West End theatres are £6.33 per hour, and even after taking account of SOLT's most recent pay offer, would still be below the threshold at £6.54 per hour.

The strike ballot closes on March 19, and strike action could legally begin one week later.

BECTU's decision to run the ballot comes after union members picketed the prestigious Olivier awards on February 15 to draw attention to the problem of low pay among theatre workers.

Among the spoof honours handed out by union members outside the Victoria Theatre was the "Phantom of Low Pay" award, given to SOLT for "consistent efforts to pay rates down". SOLT's chief executive dismissed the union's efforts to win decent minimum rates as "over-ambitious".