WWE Rumors: Company Has Reportedly Been Exploiting Backstage Employees, According To New Report
According to Fightful, by way of Ringside News, several WWE office employees reportedly had their salaries cut while their workloads increased quite significantly.
The report stated that the affected parties had their pay decreased by “tens of thousands of dollars” in some cases. However, the workers were also tasked with single-handedly performing duties that usually required a large team of employees to carry out. According to the article, the cuts have hit some people hard from a financial standpoint.
The news comes following the revelation that more employees will lose their jobs this week. As The Inquisitr reported on Thursday, Hall of Famer Gerald Brisco was let go after 36 years of service to Vince McMahon’s promotion. He is expected to be one of several backstage personnel whose services are no longer required.
As The Inquisitr report highlighted, the new wave of releases is expected to mainly affect employees who were already furloughed due to the pandemic. However, the reported news that many employees have been underpaid and overworked will undoubtedly bring more negative attention to the sports entertainment entity in regard to workers’ rights.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang has been very critical of the company’s labor and business practices in recent days. This came after it was announced that superstars had been banned from using third-party platforms such as Twitch and Cameo, even though they’re technically independent contractors.
The new rule states that performers can’t represent the brand on these platforms. However, since their real names are also regarded as the corporation’s intellectual property, they can’t use those either.
According to Yang, the company is exploiting and dehumanizing its superstars by prohibiting them from making money elsewhere, even though WWE doesn’t provide the same health and financial benefits that other companies do for their employees.
Yang believes that the company knows that its talent will abide by the new rules out of fear of losing their jobs, especially during the current economic climate. Some of these criticisms will likely emerge from the latest revelation about underpaid workers and raise more questions about the promotion’s business practices. McMahon has been accused of greed, and the latest reported cutbacks seemingly support this claim.
As documented by Bleacher Report, several producers and referees have also had their pay cut in recent months. In WWE’s case, this was a controversial move as the promotion has seen an upturn in profits during the pandemic, potentially due to fewer live events being produced.
