The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees is accusing AEW of shortchanging its workers.
In a post on X, the IATSE stated: “This week, IATSE Local 8 members are out in force to inform the public that All Elite Wrestling (AEW) events in Philadelphia are failing to meet area standards by paying substandard wages and benefits.”
They went on to say: “When employers undercut these standards it threatens wages, benefits, and job opportunities for all entertainment workers in the community. We stand in solidarity with our Local 8 kin as they hold employers accountable and fight to protect the fair standards that entertainment workers deserve!”.
They then clarified their grievance which is: “Neither AEW nor 2300 Arena has signed a collective bargaining agreement with any IATSE Local for their Philadelphia based productions. This means it is not an IATSE union production.”
AEW is holding RoH Death Before Dishonor on August 29th as well as Collision and Dynamite in Philadelphia from August 27th to September 11th.
The Theatrical Stage Employees would handle such jobs as rigging and lighting, audio, video and screens, stage and set construction, ring crew support, camera assistants, stagehands, special effects and dismantling the show.
In the past, AEW owner and booker Tony Khan has spoke on the issue of fair wages and safe working conditions many times. For instance, during a 2020 episode of AEW Unrestricted, Khan stated: “I’ve always thought I would take really good care of people…and provide for people…there’s other wrestling companies that try to lock people down to contracts where they work for $100 a night, $200 a night…insane stuff.”
