Workers at Washington D.C.’s major concert venues are working to unionize.
Production staff as well as employees in food services, box office and those staffing the door at D.C.’s 9:30 Club, a well-known venue that helped launched the careers of bands including Nirvana and R.E.M, as well as at The Anthem, one of the larger East Coast venues with a capacity of 6,000, The Atlantis and Lincoln Theatre, have asked management at I.M.P. to allow the process to move forward for voluntary recognition of the unionization efforts.
On Monday, workers from those venues delivered petitions to I.M.P. management on behalf of the more than 300 organizing staff members, calling for card check agreements, in which the employer agrees to recognize a union as an employee group’s collective bargaining representative, if the majority of the employees in the bargaining unit sign authorization cards.
The union push comes as workers are pushing for higher wages, more consistent schedules and better work safety, as some workers can be asked to lift heavy materials and manage crowd surfers.
“I love working here, but we just want better support from our employer,” said Hunter Spears, who works door staff. “I’ve taken boots to the face. I’ve been thrown up on. I’ve hurt my wrist catching crowd surfers.”
“We work at an internationally renowned venue, and we deserve to be treated like we work at an internationally renowned venue. I don’t feel like we are treated with dignity,” said stagehand and audio engineer Lee Reber, who works at The Anthem as well as I.M.P.’s U Street corridor venues.
Departments at 9:30 Club, the Atlantis, and Lincoln Theatre that deal with food, beverage and staffing the door and floor are organizing with support from UNITE HERE Local 25. Sound and stage production staff at the U Street corridor venues and Anthem have reached out to IATSE Local 22, the behind-the-scenes entertainment union. I.M.P.’s box office staff across all four venues are organizing with IATSE Local 868.
