Page 2 - Stagehands Local News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Friday, May 14, 2021 * I’m told that several performers are demanding that anyone who works backstage at the Illinois State Fair Grandstand must be vaccinated or they won’t play. The state uses an outside company to provide backstage workers and they must be unionized. From Stagehands Local 138… For those that plan to work the 2021 Illinois State Fair I have some information and requirements to pass along. The Department of Agriculture has notified us that we will need to ensure all our employees performing services on the Fairgrounds are fully vaccinated with an FDA-approved COVID-1...

Michigan is among six states that provides 20 weeks of jobless benefits. Representatives of Stagehands Local 26 and their backers said workers in the live entertainment industry have been among the hardest hit by the pandemic and restrictions on entertainment events. Local 26 said 90% of stage hands remain unemployed, many of them for as long as a year. In late December, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill to extend unemployment benefits from a maximum of 20 weeks to 26 weeks through April. The maximum has been 26 weeks throughout most of the pandemic. Leaders of the Republican-...