Women working backstage in West End likely to receive less pay

Published Tuesday 5 December 2006 at 15:30 by Nuala Calvi

West End managements are under pressure to overhaul pay structures for backstage and production staff in the West End which, it is claimed, are biased against women.

The Society of London Theatre is being urged to revise its minimum wage agreement to tackle a situation whereby people in female-dominated departments such as costumes and wigs are paid less than their equivalents in traditionally male areas such as sound and lighting.

Although Bectu officials say pay disparities between heads of departments have more or less been eradicated, those lower down the career ladder such as assistants are still losing out.

Union supervisory official Willy Donaghy said: “Jobs in female-dominated departments do earn less than a comparable male amount. It’s biased against women.

“What we need to do is to fully re-negotiate the pay and grading structure, because it is archaic. It’s historical and not far away from institutional sexism.”

Stage Management Association executive director Barbara Eifler said those working in wardrobe were the worst paid in the whole theatre industry.

“The skill involved in their jobs is not recognised. It’s much more than just washing and ironing clothes,” she said. “We’re talking about complicated costumes that need refurbishment and if it is a period costume it is a real art to restore that to full glory after people have sweated in them hour after hour.”

However, Eifler said women were increasingly making inroads into areas like lighting and sound, while the majority of stage managers are now women, although there are still very few female stage technicians.

“People have much better equipment to help them do their jobs, like fly lifts and forklift trucks, and a lot of work is done by computer now,” she added. “People are also more aware of how to lift things properly, so you don’t need to be big and muscular to do backstage work anymore.”

SOLT industrial officer Peter Morris said the same pay grades applied to heads, deputies and assistants in stage, electric and wardrobe departments under the organisation’s agreement with Bectu but that the contract only covered minimum rates and anything above that was arranged by individual producers and theatres.

The society is currently negotiating its annual contract with Bectu, which may also set out general terms for Sunday working for the first time.

Sunday pay is currently agreed on a production-by-production basis but managers want it to be included in the collective agreement to pave the way for more theatres in the West End to open on Sundays.