Second strike planned by Arts Centre Melbourne employees

Workers at Arts Centre Melbourne plan to walk off the job for a second time within a week as part of an industrial dispute over pay.

The strike on Friday will likely impact shows across the Arts Centre complex, including one-night-only concert Eclipse: Pink Floyd Orchestrated , performances by circus act Zerial and dance work Burn the Floor: Luminous .

New exhibition Encore! at the Australian Museum of Performing Arts will likely also be affected. Set to open on Wednesday, the exhibition draws on the Arts Centre’s own collection, and includes items such as Kylie Minogue’s gold hot pants from the film clip to her song Spinning Around and the late Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst’s drum kit .

An Arts Centre Melbourne spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that management had been notified of a second strike planned by staff for Friday.

Last week’s strike led to the cancellation of a concert at Hamer Hall by Grammy-winning singer Macy Gray, as well as scheduled performances of GRIMM and dance work Burn the Floor: Luminous in the Arts Centre building. While Gray’s concert has been rescheduled to October 13 and GRIMM’s season has concluded, Burn the Floor has been caught up in the cancellations for a second time.

The second strike comes on the back of a long-running pay dispute, as this masthead reported on September 9 (see below):

A concert by Grammy-winning singer Macy Gray at Hamer Hall has been cancelled due to a proposed 24-hour strike by workers at Arts Centre Melbourne.

Friday night’s scheduled performances of theatre show GRIMM and dance work Burn the Floor: Luminous in the Arts Centre’s theatres building have also been cancelled ahead of the planned industrial action.

Hamer Hall will be closed all day on Friday and the Arts Centre Melbourne car park “scaled back” for “safety reasons” as a result of the industrial action from 12.01am on Friday, which will include a picket line in the afternoon and public rally in the evening.

An Arts Centre spokesperson said ticket holders were being notified about the disruption to shows and that a new date would be announced for Gray’s performance.

“We will contact ticket holders directly, and thank them for their patience.

“Once confirmed, a new date will be announced and all ticket holders to the cancelled performance will be contacted directly.”

A representative for Macy Gray told this masthead the singer would not be commenting on the cancellation of her Melbourne concert, one of a number of dates around Australia on her current tour.

Arts Centre Melbourne, Australia’s largest performing arts complex, is owned by the state government and is managed by a trust whose members are appointed by Victoria’s governor at the recommendation of the creative industries minister.