I know I& #39;ve been harping on a lot about unionising recently but there& #39;s good reason: musicians, events workers, and so many from our performance and events industries are facing real hardship as a result of the mishandling of COVID by government. 1/6

In Belfast currently, artists are being asked to accept half their usual rates of pay by bar managers. If they don& #39;t choose a 50% pay cut, they are cut from a venue, and lose all earnings. If that were the bar staff, we& #39;d be rightly furious! And this is just one example. 2/6

Women, men, and nb folx who perform have made livelihoods out of their skills and talents, yet that& #39;s all slipping away. The events workers, sound techs, photographers, journalists, and so many others who contribute to this industry are also struggling to make ends meet. 3/6

We are workers - we labour to create, & we all consume the product of artists& #39; labour. Bars, venues, promoters, management, & labels scoop out huge sections of artists& #39; revenue. The government bailed them out, but not us. As individuals, we are powerless to change that but... 4/6

right now, conversations are taking place inside the IWW to set up a union for performers & events workers in Ireland. It will put the interests of working musicians, artists, actors, writers, photographers, & every other entertainment worker first (unlike some *cough* theMU) 5/6

But that can only happen if entertainment workers actively unionise and participate! To roughly paraphrase: Musicians, Artists, Photographers, Journalists, Actors, Poets, A/V techs, Bar Staff, and every other entertainment worker – unite! 6/6 https://iww.org.uk/join/ ">https://iww.org.uk/join/&quo...