Posts tagged Actors’ Equity Association
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.