Socialist Party Wales Socialism In Wales
Over 250 jobs are under threat at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff as a result of the Covid crisis. As performances have been cancelled there could be a jobs melt-down in the whole theatre and arts sector unless the government steps in.
Under pressure, the UK government announced a £1.5 billion subsidy but that has not been used to defend jobs – employers are ploughing ahead with job losses anyway in a sector in which many jobs are casualised. “Front of house” workers are particularly badly affected.
The Welsh government has been allocated £59m which should be passed on to arts organisations specifically to save jobs. The government should insist that all funding will be dependent on the money being used to save jobs. Management at the Wales Millennium Centre has not ruled out that even if the extra funding is forthcoming that jobs will be cut.
Jason Camilleri, a worker at the Wales Millennium Centre, explains:
“Protesters on Saturday brandished signs stating the basic demand of ‘Save Every Job’, this the collective message of the organisers, however one sign resonated loudly for me, it read: ‘Theatre is more that just Buildings, It’s People’.
“As thousands of jobs are currently under threat due to the pandemic, danger thrives in one sector in particular even as many businesses are given the green-light to reopen. The arts and live entertainment industry are disproportionately affected by social distancing measures, traditionally requiring around 60% capacity to break even, an impossibility when audiences are limited to a third.
“Thousands of jobs are at stake across the country. To name but a few – Exeter Northcott Theatre – 50% of staff, The Tobacco Factory in Bristol -70% of staff, London’s National Theatre – 400 staff, and here at Wales Millennium Centre – over 250 staff are at risk, not to mention the losses at regional theatres and venues across Wales.
“Hopes were raised two weeks ago when it was announced that a £59m rescue package for arts and heritage was heading to Wales, however with redundancies already taking place, announcements around the rescue package have been slow and fraught with confusion in regards to the amount and its purpose. This prompted a demonstration of arts workers outside the Senedd on Saturday afternoon seeking clarity and demanding reassurances that the fund would go towards saving the thousands of jobs at stake in the industry.
“One of the stark realisations to come from the current situation is the disparity in which arts workers are unionised. There are specific unions for performers, but the industry is so much more than that, and the idea of a union supporting an entire workforce within an organisation does not seem to exist. Many arts workers are individual members of unions while many are not members at all, making a united fight less probable as teams are sporadically and individually supported instead. The key is immediate action for the industry to become unionised and a concerted effort must be made to ensure that this happens.
“However, the current emergency needs action. A call to arms is needed if arts workers want to protect their livelihoods; their voices need to be heard. The demonstration on Saturday was just the beginning. Remember there are no guarantees that any job is safe as a result of this fund, no word if Welsh Government intend to protect livelihoods, and if you are waiting on the announcement before you speak up the opportunity may be lost along with thousands of jobs. The time is now.”
The introduction to this article was corrected on July 23 to clarify that funding from the Welsh government to the arts had not yet been agreed and removing a reference that the WMC had announced it would sack workers anyway. The WMC was still consulting on job losses, but had not confirmed that if it received extra funding from the Welsh government it would retain all jobs.
