Unpaid workers at destination

It seems destination is in the habit of only paying a precentage of artists/workers.

7 Mar 2004

In the vein of the Gathering, before it went under, Destination (danceonarock.co.nz) has taken it upon itself to only pay top name acts on site.

I have spoken with multiple people who travelled to Christchurch and have found that after playing their sets (and doing work) they were told that the agreed upon wages would not be able to be paid until such time as they arrive back in their home town.

Seeing as it is now two weeks later and finance has not been forthcoming, I suspect that these deals will remain unfulfilled.

What is it with New Zealand dance productions? Do they really think that the country is big enough that things like this would go unnoticed?

You can't expect people to just roll over and forget it. Even if the people lived on site and didn't have to travel, there are various costs associated with playing and attending a gig. These range from food costs through to entertainment costs. And that's not even including travel.

What can the community do to solve this problem?

A) Tell everyone they're not going to get paid and then have payment as a bonus.

B) Work out how much your outgoings are going to be and what areas do not require payment (i.e. entertainment for the organisers).

C) Make the party free.

D) Pay all artist the same wages (as opposed to paying one artist $15,000 and others less than $350)

E) Stop putting on parties.

If someone from destination could respond to any of the above it would be much appreciated, though from past experience with the Gathering, they will probably hide and pretend they didn't read this.

Peace out,

An Artist's Friend