Live event workers march in Minneapolis, call for financial help amid pandemic
Live event workers, largely out of work due to the pandemic, pushed road cases during a march in downtown Minneapolis on Sept. 10, 2020.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Twin Cities behind-the-scenes workers in the live events industry were on center stage Thursday as they marched from the Orpheum Theatre to Peavey Plaza in downtown Minneapolis, while pushing road cases.
Many of the demonstrators are unemployed due to the pandemic. One organizer estimated 90 percent of them are currently out of work. Without a return to live events in the near future, they say help is desperately needed for positions including designers, technicians, and production crews.
“This is the group of people that are behind the scenes creating events every day that you see in the Twin Cities,” said Wendy Porter, the founder of Minnesota Live Events Coalition. “Everything from corporate events and conferences and trade shows to weddings to theater productions to sporting events any of those types of events you may have attended in the Twin Cities - that’s who these folks work for.
The marchers are calling on Congress to pass financial help for their industry, including Senator Amy Klobuchar's Save Our Stages Act.