PHILADELPHIA, PA — Eight production employees at The University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Live Arts’ Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts have voted unanimously to join the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 8. On April 22, 2026, the National Labor Relations Board certified the results of an election in which all eligible workers voted in favor of union representation. The group includes full-time and part-time Audio Engineers, Digital Production Supervisors, House Electricians, Production Coordinators, and Theatre Technicians who operate the venue’s technical and production systems.

Penn Live Arts is the University of Pennsylvania’s on-campus organization for the performing arts. Headquartered at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, the organization is responsible for producing and presenting performances, as well as managing the venue and its operations. The center includes three primary performance spaces: Zellerbach, Harold Prince Theatre, and Bruce Montgomery Theatre. Together, these venues support a wide range of performance scales, from large touring productions to intimate experimental work.

Production employees at Penn Live Arts organized by building trust, staying united, and communicating openly. Their strong internal cohesion and clear majority support allowed the campaign to move smoothly through the process and reach certification.

“When production workers come together and choose union representation, it benefits more than one workplace,” said Daniel Little, International Representative for IATSE. “It strengthens the arts community and helps ensure professional standards across nonprofit and university venues.”

Tait Adams, Theatre Technician at Penn Live Arts, emphasized the importance of having a voice in workplace decisions: “There are a lot of great aspects of working here at Penn Live Arts. There is also a lot of room for improvement. As the organization continues to grow, the workers deserve to have a say in our conditions. Being represented by IATSE Local 8 means that we have the necessary support and resources to make sure our voices are heard and recognized.”

The organizing victory at Penn Live Arts adds to IATSE Local 8’s long history of representing production workers at theatres and performing arts venues throughout the Philadelphia region. The newly organized workers will now move forward to negotiate their first collective bargaining agreement with the University of Pennsylvania.