When Outliers watches dancers gyrating in music videos for artists such as Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Beyonce, one question never fails to pop into our mind: Do those performers have healthcare benefits?
Turns out, the dancers say, they’re having trouble getting the benefits and working conditions they would like to see and are putting on a show in Beverly Hills to bring awareness to the cause.
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, a unit of the AFL-CIO, put its music-video dancers in a Jan. 6 show at the Electric Fountain on Wilshire Boulevard to bring some attention to its ongoing contract negotiations with major record labels. It’s a continuation of the union’s ongoing “It’s About Time” campaign to pressure the labels into negotiating a new deal.
A news release from AFTRA says the dancers have been in high demand in recent years, but their efforts to reach a new labor contract with the labels stalled in June. Contract negotiations are slated to restart Jan. 11, Variety reported.
