A NEW union could be set up as part of a campaign to improve pay and conditions for workers at the world's biggest festival.

The Fair Fringe campaign said a new "pop up union" could be established to help change pay and conditions at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The Fair Fringe campaign has already had a meeting with the Fringe Society, which runs the annual festival of comedy, theatre, dance and music in Edinburgh, and has secured more than 300 signatures for a petition to urged Fringe venues to change working conditions and pay.

The campaign has published an open letter that says "festival workers are underpaid and treated poorly in precarious conditions."

Kirsty Haigh, one of the organisers of the campaign, said the formation of a new "pop up union" to fight for workers rights at the festival was a possibility.

She said: "It has been clear for a number of years that workers are being exploited.

"The case for a pop-up union is very strong, but equally the issues faced by Fringe workers are also faced by workers in the rest of the hospitality sector."

Pop Up Unions have been formed in the recent past, most notably by staff at Sussex University in 2013, as temporary organisations to fight for a specific goal, usually with low dues for members.

The Fair Fringe campaign has also been backed by an established union, Unite, and received support from acts such as Frankie Boyle and Mark Thomas and The Stand venue.

Last year during the Fringe, a whistle-blower website told tales of poor working conditions at the festival.

One contributor to the website told of working in one of the “four largest venue providers,” saying: “Like many young people I was lured to work for these companies by perks I could not use.

“It made me realise that the Fringe is built off the backs of exploited young people."

Bryan Simpson, of Unite Hospitality, said: "Last year we received reports of widespread use of exploitative practices by Fringe employers including being paid £10 per 1000 leaflets, working 10 hours without a break and not being paid for work carried out.

"We are determined not to allow this to happen again.

"The Fair Fringe campaign seeks to improve the wages and conditions of Fringe staff alongside the workers themselves."

A spokeswoman for Fringe Society - which is led by chief executive Shona McCarthy - said it is now in "open dialogue" with the Fair Fringe campaign and Unite.

She added: "The Fringe Society is proud to be a living wage employer and is working with the Living Wage Foundation to support venues and companies of the Fringe seeking to become a living wage employer.

"Our aim is always for all those who choose to be involved in the Fringe, in whatever capacity, to have the best experience possible."

Ms Haigh said the campaign hopes to "change the culture of acceptance in the Fringe where exploitation and exhaustion are seen as standard."

She added: "Next year we want to see Fringe employers giving all their staff contracts which include all of the rights outlined in Unite’s Fair Hospitality Charter. We want to see a Fringe that works for the workers."

The open letter states that living wage of £8.45 per hour is "almost unheard of at the Fringe" and "some festival employers don’t even pay the minimum wage, calling their staff 'volunteers' instead."

It says that few Fringe workers received sick or holiday pay, and pay is often replaced or substituted with free tickets which, because of time constraints, are often not used.

It says "staff are given gruelling work rotas, often working for 12 hours or more without proper breaks, and often working the entire month of August without a day off" and adds that "sexual harassment in Fringe venues is rife, and employers do not take their duty of care responsibilities seriously."

The Fringe Society holds its Annual General Meeting next week and it is highly likely the campaign will become a point of discussion.

Ms Haigh said the campaign hopes that venues will respond to the open letter and petition and change and added: "The ideal result is that Fringe workers receive the pay, rest breaks and all of the rights they deserve.

"If this isn’t achievable for Fringe employers then they do not have a viable business model."