Employer not required to reimburse cost of 'standard apparel'
The grievance, filed by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) on behalf of the bargaining unit of stage hands employed by Mirvish Productions, alleged the theatre company violated the collective agreement when it refused to pay a "costume fee."
It is common practice, and often required, that employees wear all-black clothing during live performances, so as not to distract from the show.
Employees also typically don what they call "blacks" during rehearsals and during other non-live shows as well.
However, during the production of the play Once, the director determined stage employees would wear everyday clothes as opposed to "blacks" so as to blend in better with the stage’s pub setting.
Employees did as such, and when they submitted their time sheets for the period worked, they also included claims for a costume fee of $45, per the collective agreement.
As the union saw it, although the employees were sporting their own duds, they were entitled to compensation.
"The employer required the employees to wear clothing for artistic reasons in order to ‘blend into a scene’ in accordance with (the collective agreement), during the time in which the employees were restricted from wearing blacks," the union argued.
IATSE counsel cited a previous dispute at Mirvish, dating back to 2006, in which the union won a costume fee for stage hands who were required to wear hoods and gloves in addition to regular blacks.
On the other hand, the employer submitted there was no explicit requirement or instruction regarding wardrobe.
Employees were simply asked to wear any work clothes they wished from their own wardrobe and that, therefore, did not amount to a requirement to wear clothing in accordance with the provisions of the contract.
In his decision, arbitrator Norm Jesin concluded a restriction on the crew from wearing blacks — together with a preference that employees wear "standard apparel" — is not a requirement for employees' clothing that would entitle them to a costume fee.
Because the garments were described so vaguely, and were already owned by the crew, they can hardly constitute a literal costume, Jesin said.
"That is not to say that clothing must be supplied by the costume department in order to be designated a costume. Clearly the definition in the collective agreement is far broader than that," he explained.
"But in this case, employees were given almost unlimited discretion in what they could wear with a stated preference that they wear ‘standard working apparel.’ (That) does not amount to a requirement that employees work in clothes to blend into a scene as contemplated by (the collective agreement," he determined in his decision.
Reference: Mirvish Productions and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Machine Operators of the United States and Canada (IATSE). Norm Jesin — arbitrator. Ernie Schirru for the union, Simon Mortimer for the employer. April 17, 2015.
