BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Ushers at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts have voted overwhelmingly to join the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local B-192. The newly unionized unit covers 23 ushers at the Beverly Hills venue.
The Wallis is a community performance venue that hosts a wide variety of including music, dance, comedy, and theater. Its campus is anchored by the historic 1933 Beverly Hills post office and includes the newly built 500-seat Goldsmith Theater, the intimate 150-seat Lovelace Studio Theater, and GRoW at The Wallis, a dedicated space for arts education.
The ushers first began organizing years ago, but the effort was renewed this spring with a majority of the group signing cards in August, and the petition for an election being filed shortly thereafter.
“Our Local has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years, and we continue to find opportunities to organize and strengthen our Local by providing the benefits of union membership for thousands of workers in the Los Angeles area,” said Nicole Miller, President of IATSE Local B-192. “Welcoming the Ushers at The Wallis is indicative of workers rising up and recognizing the value of union representation, and of IATSE in particular.”
An usher who voted in favor of joining Local B-192 described what the victory means: “IATSE representation gives us a newfound power to come together and make meaningful improvements to life as a Wallis Usher. For most of us, this is our second or even third job. We do it because we love being around theatre and music, and we are very much not in it for the money. At the same time, I believe that our work is important and we deserve to be paid a living wage. I am excited to begin the bargaining process and optimistic that we can work with management to achieve many of our goals and make the Wallis a better place to work.”
Theatre workers looking to join together to win better workplaces can head to iatse.net.join to contact an IATSE organizer.
