Equity in the News

The Star Garden Topless Dive Bar dancers are seeking representation from Actors’ Equity.

Strippers at the Star Garden topless dive bar in North Hollywood will soon receive ballots to hold an election for collective bargaining, which may result in the first stripper union in the US in more than a decade.

Strippers at a North Hollywood bar will be allowed to vote in a mail-in ballot election over whether to unionize, the National Labor Relations Board confirmed this week.

Equity’s public policy priorities include a prevailing wage in the arts, racial justice, a strong minimum wage, stronger federal and state arts funding, and more.

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.