The organisers of the world's biggest arts festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, want to meet with the authors of a 'whistleblower' website highlighting poor working conditions at the festival.
The website, Fringe Whistleblower, is not only recording stories of poor working conditions or incidents but is also conducting a survey of Fringe workers to gather information.
It has been set up by artists and producers who are "dismayed" at the state of the Fringe and has documented stories of excessive hours, poor or late pay, and other issues.
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At the annual meeting of the Fringe Society, which runs the the festival, the new chief executive of the Fringe, Shona McCarthy said she was eager to engage with the website.
Ms McCarthy said: "The Fringe Society is itself an equal opportunities employer and we work very closely with [union] BECTU, so we would like to think we set a model of best practice, and we are very aware of the whistleblower website.
"We are hoping that they will work with us, and talk to us.
"At the minute it is anonymous, but actually it would be helpful to have that direct [conversation] about something we are conscious of."
One writes of working in one of the "four largest venue providers" and says: "Like many young people I was lure to work for these companies by perks I could not use.
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"I quit after two weeks due to exhaustion, lost my work-provided accommodation and was homeless in Edinburgh until my flight. It made me realise that the fringe is built off the backs of exploited young people."
Another writes: "I don’t understand why this kind of culture is acceptable at the Fringe when it really isn’t at any other time. I don’t understand why people are okay with exploitation and exhaustion. That’s not what art should be about."
Union BECTU recently launched a code of conduct aimed at supporting fringe venues and producers in paying the living wage.
The website says it was created by an anonymous collective of artists and producers who are "increasingly dismayed at the state of the Edinburgh Fringe."
It says: "Most artists do not get paid at the Edinburgh Fringe: in fact, many lose money.
"Many venue staff work in very difficult working and sometimes unlawful conditions, including 12 hour shifts for 6 or 7 days a week with minimal pay.
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"Meanwhile, landlords and hoteliers make vast sums of money, arts administrators can cream off their wages, and some artistic directors of for-profit and not-for-profit venues take a handsome cut.
"Those making a profit from the Fringe are doing so through exploiting artists and front-line workers."
It adds: "We want to document this in two ways: by collecting anonymous stories of abuse and exploitation at the Fringe, and by starting to gather information about the actual working conditions of front-line Fringe staff."
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