What's choreographer Marty Kudelka's favorite part of being on tour? He doesn't have to make his bed every morning.

Kudelka, who has worked with Mariah Carey and Justin Timberlake, is part of a group of performers, including singers, dancers and choreographers, who regularly tour with big name acts as part of their jobs. While many performers have a voice on the job when they work in music videos or on TV and film, they do not have the union contract for their tour work. This affects everything, from access to health insurance to retirement benefits and safety on the job. 

It's hard to argue with fairness. Pointing out the injustices for dancers in the music video industry is exactly how choreographer and chair of the Dancers' Alliance Galen Hooks found momentum around gaining basic workplace safety and benefits. Something as simple as a water break during an eight-hour video shoot (sometimes in the desert) and access to chairs were workplace safety and health basics  dancers simply did not have. But that all changed when the power of collective action spread across the dancer community, which often was hard to organize because of the nature of the business: multiple employers, different jobs every day and competition from fellow dancers who'll take any job (even if it's unpaid).

Earlier this spring, we highlighted the creative action by dancers and other music video performers as they mobilized for a fair contract—and they now have one. SAG-AFTRA and the Dancers' Alliance reached the first-ever industry-wide contract to cover dancers and other performers on music videos with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, EMI Music and The Walt Disney Co.

Cruise on over to our AFL-CIO home page for two new features that spotlight an innovative training program from Chicago Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 597 (UA) and a look at the creative campaign music video dancers are waging for a fair contract.