Fringe urged to ban top venue in fair pay row
● Allegations of exploitation against leading festival operator
A major promoter of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe flouted the vast majority of a good practice charter and should be banned for its poor treatment of workers, say Fair Fringe activists. C Venues, which stages hundreds of different shows each year, imposed draconian working conditions and paid staff as little as £200 for the whole festival, they claim.
Campaigners against the exploitation of people working at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe are demanding one of its biggest promoters is banned from its programme for its treatment of workers.
Fair Fringe activists have revealed a damning dossier on C Venues – which stages more than 200 different shows at the festival each year – accusing the promoter of imposing draconian conditions and paying staff as little as £200 for the whole festival.
The group say its investigation has found C Venues flouted the vast majority of a good practice charter aimed at ensuring venue workers were paid the Living Wage, got proper rest breaks, were properly consulted on rotas and got their transport home paid if they had to work after midnight.
The campaigners want the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, the event’s governing body, to clamp down on an operating model it says is built on “exploitation, underpayment and overworked staff” by blocking any efforts by C Venues to secure space in its published programme, official website or mobile phone app unless the promoter pledges to overhaul its pay and conditions for workers.
The campaign, which has accused C Venues of describing its staff as a volunteers to avoid paying them a proper wage, also wants landlords including Edinburgh University to refuse to hire out spaces to C Venues in future and for the council to reject licence applications by the promoter unless there is a rethink.
The new dossier on C Venues has emerged months after the promoter was awarded two out of three new “Bad Boss Awards” which were instigated by the campaign last summer to highlight the
worst practices at the Fringe.
A previous report warned that the Fringe was being marred by the exploitation of workers due to “precarious” pay and conditions which were putting their mental and physical health at risk.
The new Fair Fringe dossier on C Venue said working practices
at its venues had been raised “time and again” since the campaign’s launch in 2017.
The report states: “C Venues seemed to be confused about whether their staff were volunteers, self-employed freelancers, or workers. While they advertised for volunteers, and in many places claimed
the staff were volunteers, they then gave staff contracts calling them freelancers.
“However, C Venues do not pay them enough if they were to be considered workers, but neither do they provide the appropriate conditions and benefits which would justify volunteer status.
“It is clear C Venues uses unpaid staff as a substitute for paid staff – the team is comprised almost entirely of staff receiving less than the minimum wage. Staff do not have the option to take shifts off or work fewer shifts. In contrast to legitimate volunteering, it is not a free will activity as staff don’t have a say in the roles or hours they work.”
Fair Fringe spokeswoman Kirsty Haigh said: “Overcrowded accommodation, abysmally low pay, staff overworked and stressed until they end up in hospital – these are just some of the stories C Venues staff tell in this report.
“This is a damning insight into the horrendous conditions under which they operate. It’s crystal clear the business model relies heavily on the exploitation of its staff and no company that operates like this should be allowed to take part in the Fringe.
“The Fringe Society now has a choice to make about what they want the festival to represent: if they don’t want an exploited worker to be behind every ticket sale and every pint sold, they need to start making serious changes. Venues that don’t meet the Fair Fringe charter shouldn’t be allowed to advertise in the programme and C Venues should be the first to be pulled.”
C Venue has insisted it is a “volunteer-focused organisation” that has team members who “return from year to year”. A statement said: “C Venues seeks to remain true to the spirit of the Fringe by hosting companies of all backgrounds from amateur and student to professionals, and from small to large-scale productions, alongside each other in the same spaces, so people from all backgrounds can make theatre together and learn from each other.
“Our volunteers have the opportunity to gain invaluable experience in a wide range of fields, and to make connections and participate in an environment where there is always something to learn.
“We provide a programme of training and support for our volunteers, including health and safety, technical theatre and theatre operations training. We offer accommodation, food, and a small contribution to expenses. We provide access to complimentary tickets and discounts.”
No-one was available for comment at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society.