On April 21, the Council of Actors’ Equity Association (the national union for professional actors and stage managers in live theater) unanimously passed a new internal membership rule that members may only return to work when the union deems it safe to do so, and that they will not sign over their rights to a safe workplace. Three days later, on April 24, Equity announced that public health expert Dr. David Michaels, who served as Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from 2009-2017, during the Obama administration, would consult for the union to help develop new model health and safety standards for COVID-19, and would be key to implementing a plan in which member safety is put first and decisions are made with a clear scientific basis.
This afternoon, Equity Executive Director Mary McColl, President Kate Shindle, and Communications Director Brandon Lorenz joined Dr. Michaels – a noted national and international speaker on issues of workplace safety and health, the relationship of safety, sustainability, and operational excellence; the use of science in regulation, and scientific integrity – in a virtual press conference, to update the theater community and the public on the progress made in developing those standards, which will eventually allow theaters to reopen and to maintain a safe and healthy workplace.
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