Good progress is being made in negotiations on the Commercial and Subsidised Theatre agreements, which are currently under negotiation with UK Theatre. While the negotiations are confidential, we can share an update on the progress of talks.
Equity has been in negotiations with UK Theatre over new agreements for performers and stage management in Commercial and Subsidised Theatre since January 2026.
Our priorities in these negotiations are:
- Increases to minimum rates of pay
- Increases to living away allowances and responsibility payments
- Improved protection for workers who are injured in the course of their jobs
- Reductions in total weekly hours
The negotiations with UK Theatre have been constructive and have so far involved several rounds of talks, in which Equity is represented by staff and by performer and stage management members who have worked on these agreements. Those members have done a fantastic job of bringing the different elements of Equity’s claim to life for the bosses, and in doing so are excellent representatives of the wider theatre workforce these agreements cover.
We met with UK Theatre most recently on Monday 8th June, after which bosses have agreed to revise some elements of their original proposals so that they better meet Equity members’ priorities. Both UK Theatre and Equity are clear that we would like to reach a mutually agreeable outcome quickly.
The negotiation process needs to be confidential while the discussions are ongoing so that the negotiating party can get the best outcomes possible out of the managers. We are making good progress on many of the elements of our claims across both agreements, and we are confident that we will very soon be able to share more information about our progress.
Once we have reached agreement, Equity will begin more detailed consultations with members who have worked on those agreements since they were last negotiated in 2023 about the changes these negotiations deliver.
For further information, please contact:
Subsidised Theatre: Karrim Jalali kjalali@equity.org.uk
Commercial Theatre: Holly Firmin hfirmin@equity.org.uk
