Posts tagged Actors’ Equity Association
Portland strippers vote to unionize, could get official recognition later this week
September 15, 2023 // Across the country, there’s been a wave in recent years of workers in industries like food service and manufacturing demanding better pay and benefits, voting to unionize or going on strike to compel management to address their concerns. But last week when Creature and 15 other Magic Tavern dancers unanimously voted to unionize, they became just the second active group of strippers in the country — and the only one in Oregon — to do so. The Actors’ Equity Association, which represents the strippers, expects the National Labor Relations Board to certify the vote by the end of the week. A spokesperson for the NLRB said in an email that if the results are certified, Magic Tavern must bargain in good faith with the union.
Booze, Bard, Union Card: Drunk Shakespeare Troupes Get Organized
July 18, 2023 // That almost instantaneous recognition has also caught fire across other branches of Drunk Shakespeare. There are five groups of Drunk Shakespeare troupes nationwide: Chicago, New York City, Phoenix, D.C., and Houston. So far two other troupes, in Phoenix and D.C., have joined the march toward a united front. Drunk Shakespeare D.C. ensemble member and union representative Kit Krull said the D.C. branch had been considering coming together for a few months. “Back in April, D.C. had a reckoning that led to us approaching management about structural and equity issues that accumulated over the year we’d been open,” they explained. “We weren’t using the word ‘union,’ but I believe we were beginning to think along those lines. When we heard that Chicago had unionized, we knew that we had to get in contact with them as soon as possible.”
Strip club dancers in Oregon city unionize, demand safer work environments
June 13, 2023 // In an online petition, dancers at Magic Tavern said some employees were fired because they brought up safety concerns. Dancers at Magic Tavern have been on strike since April 4. On Sunday afternoon, dozens of people were gathered outside the club, demanding safer work conditions for dancers. "And we recently have voted to unionize," said Hazel, another dancer at the club. The dancers are being represented by Actors' Equity Association, the labor union that represented the country's only unionized dancers in Los Angeles.
LA strip club becomes only in the US to unionize
May 17, 2023 // “If you have been following our journey, then you know this has been a long, exhausting fight, which is why this victory is so sweet,” Reagan, one of the Star Garden dancers, said in a statement. “We put everything we have into this campaign, and we were fortunate to have the support and solidarity from the club’s patrons, our allies and friends, the labor movement and our union, Actors’ Equity Association.” Star Garden Topless Dive Bar’s dancers will be the first to be represented by AEA, a national labor union that represents more than 51,000 actors and stage managers in live entertainment.
Actors’ Equity Issues Strike Threat for Broadway National Tours (Exclusive)
April 5, 2023 // Actors’ Equity has issued a strike threat against The Broadway League. The union, which represents more than 51,000 stage managers and actors, has been bargaining with The Broadway League, which represents industry producers, presenters and general managers, since mid-January to create a new touring contract. Now, Actors’ Equity has authorized executive director Al Vincent Jr., its lead negotiator, to call a strike on all Broadway national tours, if he deems it necessary, after the union says it ran into roadblocks around a number of key issues.
Patti LuPone Has Reportedly Given Up Her Equity Card, Likely Ending Broadway Career
October 18, 2022 // Membership in Equity is, in nearly all cases, required to perform on Broadway and at many professional theatres across the United States. Dropping her membership in the union likely signals the end of LuPone's professional stage career in the U.S., though it would not hinder her ability to appear in concert and cabaret performances nor non-union productions. The move would not prevent LuPone re-joining the union in the future should she choose to, and she could also perform in union productions via a seldom-used provision that allows non-members to pay nominal dues to cover the union's contract administration without becoming a full member. Contacted for a further comment, LuPone shared the following: "When the run of Company ended this past July, I knew I wouldn’t be on stage for a very long time. And at that point I made the decision to resign from Equity."
Topless dancers in North Hollywood get approval to vote for unionization
October 10, 2022 // After months of protests, the National Labor Relations Board has approved an election for dancers at a topless bar in North Hollywood hoping to unionize. If the exotic performers at the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar chose to organize, they will be the only dancers in the United States to be represented by a union. Kate Shindle,
Griffith Observatory’s planetarium storytellers petition to unionize with Actors’ Equity
September 23, 2022 // 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. The observatory lecturers are also the only nonunionized employees in the building; other museum staff and technicians are represented by unions such as the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, the country’s largest union of public employees.
Strippers bid to unionize in Los Angeles
August 19, 2022 // "We like what we do," said Velveeta, a Star Garden dancer. "We would like our jobs even more if we had basic worker protections." Equity already represents over 51,000 performers and stage managers across the United States, many of them in and around Los Angeles. "Strippers are live entertainers, and while some aspects of their job are unique, they have much in common with other Equity members who dance for a living," said Actors’ Equity Association President Kate Shindle.