Leeds 2023 signs fair pay union agreement

Leeds Culture Trust has agreed that all creatives working on the LEEDS 2023 cultural programme will be paid fair wages and have safe and secure working conditions.

The agreement forms part of a Memorandum of Understanding between Leeds Culture Trust and trade unions TUC Yorkshire and Humber, Equity, Artists’ Union England, BECTU and Musicians' Union.

The trust says it will encourage partners and stakeholders to also “engage with appropriate unions to create agreements for the creative sector workers they employ”.

A similar agreement was signed ahead of Coventry’s stint as City of Culture 2021 and in Birmingham for the cultural programme that coincided with this year’s Commonwealth Games.

“At a time when precarious engagements and poor pay are threatening to overshadow the UK’s cultural strength, again Leeds is leading the way by putting the terms and conditions of the creative workforce at the heart of what it means to have a year of culture,” Equity General Secretary Paul Fleming said.

“Great art thrives when artists have dignity at and in their work, which is exactly what this Memorandum of Understanding aims to assure.”