The Stage

Scoble will not stand for Equity re-election

Published Tuesday 27 May 2008 at 14:55 by Matthew Hemley

Former Equity presidential candidate Teri Scoble will not contest her seat on the union’s council, claiming the trade body is undemocratic and that her position has become “untenable”.

Scoble, who is currently choreographer councillor, said her decision not to stand for re-election in this year’s council ballot was prompted by the union’s failure to respond to key issues she had been pushing it to take action on, including better pay for dancers in the West End and opening up membership to children.

She accused the union’s staff of showing a bias to the ruling party, the Representative Group, which she claimed constantly rebuffed motions put forward by her own faction, Members4Members.

“It is supposed to be a democratic union, but when we get blocked all the time, how can it be? Unless you are on the Representative Group, they don’t want to hear what you have to say,” she said.

Scoble, who was the Members4Members choice for president in the 2006 elections, said one of her biggest complaints was the union’s decision to open membership to models ahead of children.

She said Equity staff had promised to draw up a paper on child entry by the end of last year, but claimed she had heard nothing since.

The councillor, who also runs children’s theatre school Go For It and has been involved in a campaign to revamp child licencing laws, said she was “appalled” that the issue of membership for youngsters had been ignored for so long and added: “Children in showbusiness need a body who understand the profession, to look after them properly. There is a huge issue with child protection within the business that Equity could be the champion of.”

Scoble also said Equity had invested too much time in West End pay negotiations for actors, but was not doing anything to help experienced dancers in the business.

She said West End dancers who had been working for ten years are still paid the same rate as graduates coming into shows, but said nothing had been done about it, despite having put forward motions on the issue.

Although she will not be standing for re-election on the council, Scoble said she would continue to hold her seat on the London area committee.

However, she said her decision to step down from the council meant the choreographer seat would now go to a member of the Representative Group, because Members4Members had no one standing for this post.

Equity spokesman Martin Brown denied there was a lack of democracy within Equity, and said: “The increased interest in the current round of elections demonstrates that Equity’s democracy is robust and healthy.”