Actors join battle over exploitation

The unions took action after research found one in every three new entrants into the entertainment industry has worked for nothing on 10 or more jobs.

Now, according to the Stage newspaper, they have put in responses to the Low Pay Commission's 2013 report - due to be published in February - which advises on the national minimum wage.

Bectu assistant general secretary Martin Spence said: "I think our survey reveals there is a lot of anger, disappointment and frustration about the prevalence of unpaid work."

It found 32.8 per cent of new entrants had more than 10 "unpaid engagements" since starting out and 35.7 per cent reckoned unpaid work had a "negative impact" on long-run attempts to find full-time work.

Recently the TUC conference backed calls by Bectu, Equity and the Musicians Union to tackle the growing problem of low and unpaid work.

Equity told the Stage a government helpline has been telling actors they're not entitled to the minimum wage because they're classified as "self-employed."

And Bectu said that members working for BBC facilities management company Johnson Controls International in London and Scotland were facing pay differentials.

JCI has given staff who work in its engineering division - hard services - a 2.5 per cent pay increase but has offered only 2.43 per cent to staff who work in "soft services" which include cleaning and portering.