Unfathomable Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 I am just out of school but have worked as a tech in theatre for a few years. I have been given a job on leaving school at the theatre, mostly lighting based. Is there a union that I should join? Also, I know that the musicians union offers Public liability insurance with membership, do any tech unions offer PLI?] Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 BECTU are probably the union that many people join just to get cheap insurance - worth a look. The insurance is basic, but a good starting place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unfathomable Posted August 26, 2009 Author Share Posted August 26, 2009 BECTU are probably the union that many people join just to get cheap insurance - worth a look. The insurance is basic, but a good starting place. Thanks, I will look into it, I see they are mentioned a few times in stage too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 The PLI-based benefits of joining BECTU have been comprehensively covered elsewhere in this forum - I recommend a search. BECTU would be the union of choice in most cases - they cover personnel working in theatre, television, film, radio and cinema. The only exceptions might be if your job (you don't tell us what it is) is with a rental company or such-like, in which case they probably wouldn't be able to help you nearly as much ; or if you're working in a venue that's owned and run by a local authority, in which case Unison might serve you better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unfathomable Posted August 26, 2009 Author Share Posted August 26, 2009 The PLI-based benefits of joining BECTU have been comprehensively covered elsewhere in this forum - I recommend a search. BECTU would be the union of choice in most cases - they cover personnel working in theatre, television, film, radio and cinema. The only exceptions might be if your job (you don't tell us what it is) is with a rental company or such-like, in which case they probably wouldn't be able to help you nearly as much ; or if you're working in a venue that's owned and run by a local authority, in which case Unison might serve you better. I am working in a theatre owned jointly by a school, a leisure centre and the local council so it all gets a bit complicated. I am a technician covering shows on a fairly regular basis as well as doing work with touring equipment in local schools. looked into bectu and it seems to offer what I need, just checking as to any union either more specific or better value. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 First thing is to check with the people who pay the wages if they recognise certain unions. At my old college, the technicians were in unison, because the college recognised them. One was in BECTU, and the college would not talk to them at all. If pay rises and other benefits are at stake, then join the one that will work hardest for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Lee Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 I'll 2nd what Paul says. Check which unions are recognized by you employers first. I used to work in a local authority venue and they wouldn't recognize BECTU so alot of what they could do for employees would have been worthless in that particular case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stagemanagement Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Speaking from experience: The local authority won't recognise BECTU & Unison won't have a clue what to do with you; because there aren't many theatre tech's on the council's payroll and, unless your problems also affect the "bin-men", they'll largely shrug their shoulders with an "I dunno!" expression!! If you're venue is operated/owned by a local authority in any way, then as long as you have a payroll/employee number, you and your work in that venue will be covered by their PLI and life assurance schemes (£25k to the wife/husband if you pop it on duty!). If you are freelancing anywhere (venue or company) and you pay your own tax for that job, then you will need your own PLI; and BECTU's scheme is a good starting point for newbies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 What Paul said about checking with your employer. I spent many years in BECTU, first as an employee in a BECTU house, then as a freelance member. When I started my current job, for a local-authority-run venue, I moved from BECTU to Unison - for the simple reason that Unison is the trade union that my employer recognises, and there's a very strong Unison presence at the venue. We're lucky - quite often it can be a case of Unison not really having a clue about theatre work, being as they are a local authority employees' union with a very broad brief, but with us being a very large producing venue, with two very active Unison reps on our staff (one of whom is my boss) and the local Unison office just down the hill in County Hall, we're very well looked after. Which is a good thing, with the current ongoing situation regarding single status - I suspect we might be relying quite heavily on Unison to fight our corner at some point in the not-too-distant ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Firstly you need PLI only IF you do freelance self employed work. If you are an employee then you and your actions are the responsibility of your employer. BECTU has a better technical interest as the name suggests and many members use their PLI. Unison may be the only recognised union in a local authority environment, MU is really for musos and may not cover all you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unfathomable Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 Thats great, I will check with my employer when the theatre opens back up in the next week or so (dark for summer) but I do freelance work too, so bectu looks to be the better option. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooftop Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I'll chip in that Unison in our authority is only concerned in representing the interests of cleaning staff... GMB is another well represented union in local authorities and (with us at least) seems a bit more switched on and willing to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lxtechman Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I am just out of school but have worked as a tech in theatre for a few years. I have been given a job on leaving school at the theatre, mostly lighting based. Is there a union that I should join? Also, I know that the musicians union offers Public liability insurance with membership, do any tech unions offer PLI?] Cheers what about ABTT several techs I worked with a few years back and they got public liability cover with them to (or did) Lxtechman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 The ABTT is an Association, not a Union. And I'm not aware of them ever offering any insurance services Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I do freelance work too, so bectu looks to be the better option.When you do freelance work, do you do it on a self-employed basis, or are you taxed at source? Also, be very careful about joioning BECTU just to get the PLI; if you do, then check the exclusions on the policy and compare them to those on policies that you'd get from people such as Torribles, Robertson-Taylor and the other "usual suspects" :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.