The Chippendales Dancers to Unionize With Actors' Equity Association

The Chippendales Dancers are unionizing with Actors' Equity Association to ensure their wages and working conditions are held to the same world-class standard they're famous for delivering on stage. Equity, as the union is more commonly called, represents 51,000 professional actors and stage managers on Broadway and in live theatre across the United States.

Chippendales is an all-male revue in residence at The Rio in Las Vegas, where they perform in a $10 million custom theatre complex. They also regularly tour both domestically and internationally. They are famous for their high production values and elaborately choregraphed shows, frequently described as “the Broadway of burlesque.” However, the wages and benefits paid to their dancers lag significantly behind those of other Las Vegas entertainment offerings. 

“We love Chippendales and value being a part of this incredible institution,” said the dancers leading this unionization effort. “But we also believe our situation here isn't keeping up with industry standards. In order to continue providing the world-class entertainment that has always been the Chippendales calling card, we need to have a world-class workplace – and that means fair pay, decent benefits, safety and accountability. 

“We believe a union contract will guarantee that everyone, dancers and management, has a shared understanding of the expectations and requirements necessary to continue providing the high production value, high quality experience the Chippendales brand is known for – both onstage and off.”

“The entire Las Vegas Equity community is thrilled to welcome the Chippendales into our ranks,” said local Equity leader Marci Skolnick. “The recent victory by the Culinary Workers Union, who successfully unionized the hospitality workers up and down the entire strip, proves that Las Vegas is, and always has been, a union town. Actors' Equity Association is here to help the Chippendales get union contracts, complete with union benefits, that will enable them to make a real living doing what they do best. Our entertainers make Las Vegas a world-class destination. Union membership reminds the world that our entertainers are world class.”

Equity encourages all workers in live performance who believe they would benefit from a union contract to join the union. This includes performers in both traditional theatre settings and other stages. The Chippendales dancers first connected with Equity via the union's Organize Your Workplace form on their website. Anyone whose job would benefit from unionization can visit actorsequity.org/organize, and if Equity isn't the right union for them, they will be referred to a more appropriate fit.

In the past two years, Equity's organizing campaigns have resulted in union recognition for the Characters and Parades departments at Disneyland, planetarium lecturers in Los Angeles, strippers in LA and Portland and at Drunk Shakespeare companies across the country.

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