Ticket sales were supposed to help theater and opera companies pay the costs of turning freelancers into staff members under AB 5. What now?
AB5, the state’s new gig economy law, is intended to protect workers. But small theater, opera and dance companies worry it could ruin them.
The public health crisis shows the “vulnerability in general of the arts sector,” said the author of AB 5, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez . “It’s something to remind us that we need to provide some sort of safety net for people who make a living in the arts and ensure that when things are canceled and put off that they can still pay the bills.
Although Ruelas was invited to join the union SAG-AFTRA, which provides benefits to performers, he said gaining and maintaining eligibility is a challenging and extensive process, so he decided not to join. But for other people like Ruelas, AB 5 holds the promise of automatically providing more security.
Critics, however, argue that the independent contractor model is integral to the arts community. Many artists prefer the freedom of being independent contractors, and many small and midsize arts groups — theater companies, dance troupes, opera ensembles — have historically relied on cast and crew willing to work for low flat fees in exchange for professional exposure, experience or simply the artistic satisfaction of being part of a project.
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