Equity in the News

Equity’s public policy priorities include defending and protecting the right to collectively bargain, a prevailing wage in the arts, racial justice, and more.

The move marks Equity’s first endorsement for political candidate in the state of Maine.

The effort comes at a time when small community theatres are struggling in the aftermath of the pandemic.

From the stage actors' union taking on museum lecturers and strippers to the machinists breaking new ground in architecture, a variety of unions are answering an uptick in organizing interest by branching out from their traditional turf.

Introduced by Senator Anthony Portantino (D – Burbank), Senate Bill 1116 was cosponsored by Actors’ Equity Association and the Theatrical Producers of Southern California.

Actors’ Equity has endorsed Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock’s re-election bid, marking the first time the union’s National Council has voted to endorse a political candidate in the state. Warnock, a Democrat, is facing Republican challenger Herschel Walker in the November 8 midterm election.

The dozen observatory lecturers at the Los Angeles institution have unanimously signed union authorization cards with the Actors’ Equity Assn. A petition was presented to the city’s Employee Relations Board during a meeting Monday morning, kicking off a formal feedback period before the board makes a decision in a few months.

Two senators, one assemblymember, artist labor leaders, several social justice advocates, and activists as well as actors of every stripe gathered at Boston Court Theatre on Thursday, Sept. 8. But when the curtain rose on a rally exhorting Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign SB 1116 into law, all of them were simply theater kids.

Performing artists union Actors' Equity Association petitioned Aug. 18 for an election to represent dancers at the Star Garden following months of protests over safety conditions and other concerns. Should the dancers secure an election and vote in favor of the union, they will form the only bargaining unit of strippers in the country and just the third ever.

Strippers at the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in North Hollywood, California, have filed with the National Labor Relations Board seeking to join the Actors Equity Association, a union of performers and other show business professionals.