The Stage

Fight for union aims

Published Tuesday 14 November 2006 at 09:20

I was fascinated by Jeremy Austin’s report (Insight, November 9, page 6) on Ian McGarry and now Christine Payne’s vision of how Equity has somehow overcome Thatcherite and Blairite anti-union legislation abolishing the post entry union shop. It cannot be denied that this crippling change has left us weaker in promoting, protecting and preserving the entertainment industry and our members on a professional basis. Payne asserts that by making Equity merely a boutique offering services for which professionals might or might not be willing to join us, has made us a more powerful force in the 21st century.

Payne also alleges that members neither understand or care about where or upon what their cash is being spent. However, we have just received a requisition for a special general meeting to demand that council must not make the most fundamental change in presentation of our accounts in decades without consultation and approval by the membership at large.

We have also just received a critical report from our Scottish committee condemning a production of The Crucible by the National Theatre of Scotland involving unpaid amateurs incompetently playing main parts in towns visited on tour. The majority representative group have in effect allowed two tier protection of our members whereby a majority of the weakest professionals remain unemployed in order to permit a few leading performers to work. The minority Members for Members Group has always opposed this.

As you well know, I have consistently believed that unless we are seen to be more strongly fighting for the aims and objects of our union we will continue to experience the haemorrhage of members leaving us in despair and professionals seeing little point in joining us.

Michael Earl

Equity councillor

Wesleyan Place

Highgate Road

London

NW5